Phoenix Rising
by SleepingForce
Summary: Everyone thought Soukyoku was gone. It had been destroyed and would never be seen again. How very wrong they were. Hotarubi Kara is Third Officer of the 10th Squad, but her life is about to take a very drastic change. T for language, now completed!
1. Hotarubi Kara

**A/N: Hey everyone, this is my first try at a fic, I'll take any type of reviews. Please let me know how I'm doing!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters. Hotarubi Kara is my own character.  
**

**Chapter One: Hotarubi Kara**

_Damn…that… Kurosaki… Ichigo!!_

It was a sweltering summer's day in Soul Society. Most sane people had retreated inside their homes or reclined under the shade, trying to expend as little energy as possible. However, inside Seireitei, there was the sound of a single bamboo sword thwacking at practice dummies in the Tenth Division.

Long orange hair bound smartly back into a ponytail spun as a young woman went through a pattern dance. Sharp brown eyes surveyed the newly set group of the six foot tall practice dummies before there was a sudden flurry of movement, Shinigami robes billowing for a moment before disappearing an a blur of motion. Slender hands grasped the hilt of the bamboo sword as she whirled through the practice dummies; she accurately knocked apples off of every single one of their heads. Quite a feat for someone who stood just less than 5'3".

Hotarubi Kara was not in a good mood. The apples she had hit literally exploded as her sword flew through the air. A drop of the juice had hit her in the face; she wiped it with the cuff of her robe, along with some of the sweat streaming down her face.

Her situation was entirely Kurosaki Ichigo's fault. To save the Shinigami Kuchiki Rukia, he had broken into Soul Society and successfully rescued her, while uncovering the traitorous Aizen in the process. That she could live with; it was ridiculous to be assigned the death penalty because you were missing for a few months. Overall, he had done Soul Society a great service.

No, the root of her problems was what the bastard had done while in his quest to save his princess; namely, destroying the Soukyoku. It was stupid, with power like his he could have disabled it or something. Not destroyed it.

"Brooding on it won't help, and neither will killing yourself in this heat."

Kara turned to see Hitsuguya Toshiro standing in the entrance to the practice court, leaning in the shade. His aqua eyes couldn't be seen from this distance, but she could make out his strange hair gleaming in the shadow. She scowled darkly. "Hello, did you need me for something, _Captain_?"

"I've been given orders to check on you periodically, you know," he remarked.

"I'm only practicing my kendo. I'm fairly sure that I'm not going to explode into a raging fireball or anything in the next hour at the least."

Hitsuguya stood there for a moment, and then nodded. He had noticed a definite change in her personality ever since 'that' had happened. It made him somewhat sad, but it couldn't be helped. Turning his back, he walked away, mulling over the events of the past few weeks.

Everyone had thought Soukyoku was gone, it was destroyed, it would never be heard of again.

They were wrong.

That much energy doesn't just disappear into thin air. According to the science department, that energy had merely dispersed through the air, unable to be controlled or used. It had taken four months for all of that energy to again bind itself together, but the problem was it didn't have a host. So it chose a soul with compatible energy and simply installed itself inside.

Soukyoku had chosen to nest inside his Third Officer. Her natural power had been to manipulate flames, but with Soukyoku, the number and strength of her flames had exponentially grown day by day until there was no mistaking it for what it was. It had come to the point where Hitsuguya had received special orders from Commander Yamamoto to watch his subordinate carefully; if Kara couldn't get in control of her powers, Hyourinmaru was the strongest ice and water blade in Soul Society. It was a no-brainer, really.

He didn't like it, and knew she didn't exactly appreciate it either. Before, they had rather good friends with each other; she had carried no prejudices from looking at either his status or his appearance, and for that he was grateful. But things had changed as he was forced to treat her in a way that carried all those prejudices against her. The disturbing thing was, he couldn't really tell if she held it against him, or if she was just stressed; apart from being unable to control her powers, the other Shinigami had started to keep their distance from her to keep themselves safe from the random bursts of reiatsu which occasionally erupted from her body. What was even more annoying was that he missed his old First Officer; she was a good sparring partner and had accidently fallen through the sliding paper door to his office more than once…

"_Ouch!!" Kara sheepishly rubbed her head. "Eh… you guys should really get rid of that step outside the door, I keep tripping on it!"_

"_That's Hotarubi, isn't it," Hitsuguya commented without even looking up from his paperwork. _

_Matsumoto snickered. Kara made a face at both of her superiors before standing up and brushing herself off. "Anyways," she said, pulling a piece of paper out of her belt. "This is the report of the status of some people in the squad who were injured on their latest mission-"_

"_Aren't you even going to apologize for ripping my door again?" Hitsuguya asked, a small stress mark on one side of his forehead. _

"_Right…" Kara saluted, a crooked grin covering her face. "Sorry 'bout that, Rangiku-san, Toushiro-kun."_

"_That's CAPTAIN HITSUGUYA to you."_

Hitsuguya shook his head irritably and walked into his office, where Matsumoto was, to all appearances, diligently working. He frowned. "Matsumoto."

She looked up with her usual cheery smile. "Captain! You're back from checking up on Kara-chan?"

"Don't assume things on your own." Walking behind his desk, he picked up a brush and began to sign papers, barely seeing them. He was assigned to check up on Kara twice a day; he'd have to find her again later. "How much work have you gotten done in my absence?"

When there was no reply, he looked up. His Vice Captain was nowhere to be seen.

"MATSUMOTO!!!" he shouted, in a voice that could be heard throughout the entire Tenth Division, but the Vice-Captain wisely chose to ignore it as she whistled cheerfully on her way to go drink with Hisagi and Kira.

Gritting his teeth, he stood up and retrieved the stack of paperwork hidden behind the couch and got to work.

* * *

The day was drawing to a close. Kara paused to look at the sunset bleeding oranges and reds and yellows across the sky… just as though the entire sky were being set aflame. She sighed and began to pack up her things. No assignments had come in, and she had spent the entire day doing her pattern dances. It was time to go shower and get something to eat.

"Kara!"

She turned around at the sound of the friendly call, and saw Abarai Renji jogging towards her. Inwardly, she sighed gratefully. Renji was probably one of the only people who still treated her like a normal person, besides a couple others, and it was a relief to see him now.

Towering over her, he looked her up and down and grinned. "So this is where you've been all day, you little idiot," he sighed, shaking his head. "What the _hell_ were you thinking?"

Kara blinked, surprised by this. "What?"

"You're soaked in sweat! Don't tell me you were practicing _outside_, today of all days in this blazing heat?"

"I was on my way to take a shower, thank you very much. Leave me alone, I can do what I want," she said in mock anger, shoving him playfully. "What've you been up to, I haven't seen you around lately?"

A smug look came onto his face. "Ah, but what would a lowly Third Officer know of the duties of a Vice Captain," he sighed mournfully to the sky, while using her head as an elbow rest, much to her displeasure.

"Shut up, I'll be promoted soon enough," she said, shooting back the old retort before she remembered. Gloom settled on her shoulders again. How could she even think of getting promoted when she couldn't even control her own sword…?

All her life she had dreamed of being a Shinigami, even while living in the poorest slums of Rukongai and those days of scavenging desperately to stay alive. No matter what she did or how much food she was able to steal, the thing she remembered the most clearly from those days was the ever consuming hunger pangs keeping her awake at night. Having gotten herself into the Shinigami academy, she had flown through the classes with high marks; once she had enough food to eat, everything else had seemed remarkably easy. For the first time, she could focus on things other than food, and it was a welcome change in her life, and had been a good student. She had graduated somewhat early, though she had hoped to equal the famous Hitsuguya's record, but it just hadn't happened. She graduated two years after him and had been, coincidentally, assigned to his squad.

All those hours of long work and all her effort put into carrying out every single assignment successfully… were they all going to go to waste?

Renji was silent for a moment, peering into her face. Suddenly, he slapped the back of her head. "Get going then! Weren't you about to take a shower? What the hell are you thinking, stinking up the whole place on such a beautiful day like this?"

Kara was snapped out of her gloom instantly. "For your information, you don't exactly smell like a bed of roses after getting off the practice courts yourself," she informed him.

"Such a refined lady as yourself shouldn't be spreading this stink, it's embarrassing for the rest of us fine company," he explained reasonably, as if talking to a small child.

"If you're fine company with eyebrows like that, then I must be a goddess," Kara retorted. She ducked, making him stumble as the support disappeared from under his elbow. Without hesitating, she hit a side kick in the area where no man should ever be kicked. "And since when am I a refined lady?" she asked, grinning evilly as all the color drained out of his face.

Renji doubled over, something between amusement and extreme pain flitting across his face. "Damn you bitch!" he choked as she walked away. "You'll pay me for this on the practice courts, you hear me?!"

"See ya, Renji. Try not to roll around on the ground for too long." She spared a glance back, a sad smile on her face that he couldn't see. She flicked her head back, making her ponytail swing around mockingly, before heading to the showers, listening in amusement as he yelled after her. He was trying so hard to get her to cheer up… One day, she would have to tell him how much she appreciated it.

Hitsuguya watched the entire exchange while hidden in the shadow of a nearby building with no particular expression on his face. He watched Renji's eyes closely as they followed Kara's figure until she turned a corner and disappeared, before returning back to his office again to finish his work.

**Alright folks, let me know how it is so I know whether to continue or not. Also, I'm still divided about pairings, though I know there will be IchiRuki rather farther along the road... but who would make the best fit for Kara?**


	2. Situation

**A/N: Thanks to Nueij and Eternal. FLITTER for the reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.**

**Chapter Two: Situation  
**

The hot water pouring over her body was a temporary relief to her aching muscles. Kara sighed, knowing she had pushed herself too far. Rest and water to relieve her dehydration would be what she had to do tomorrow, as well as catch up on her report of the squad.

There was no one else in the bathroom for now, and she was glad for it. Her orange hair was plastered to her head, and she found herself scrubbing a little harder than usual… that stupid Renji, since when was he one to comment when someone stank? There was no sound but the running water as it pounded on her head and back. As the steam rose around her, she felt secure. In this place surrounded by water, she was safe. She felt her shoulders relax, knots of stress coming loose, and she could almost hear her bones popping in relief.

The door to the bathroom opened, and she tensed as she heard the gaggle of female voices coming in. The presence of other people soured her mood. With a flick of her fingers, she turned off the water and wrapped herself with a towel before coming out of the shower stall.

She came face to face with a group of Shinigami women, who looked around at the sound of someone appearing. Upon seeing who she was, a hush descended on the group. One of them smiled a little hesitantly. "Good evening, Vice Captain Hotarubi," she said.

"Good evening," Kara nodded to them and made some effort to smile before reaching into her locker for her clothing. There was a hushed silence before they returned their conversation. Kara quickly pulled on her robe and gathered up the shell of Honochoumaru before exiting. She tried to do it as quickly as possible, but she couldn't help hearing a couple whispers before the door shut behind her.

"_Did you know? She's been cursed with Soukyoku. I've heard that if anyone messes with her now, she'll burn you to a crisp!"_

"_Really? That's so scary! What kind of person would that monster weapon choose anyway? I guess a monster would choose a monster…"_

For a single moment, Kara hid both of her eyes with a single hand, leaning with the door to her back. She took a deep, shuddering breath before she stood back up again and concentrated on taking one step forward. Then the next one.

Monster. She hated this word, trailing its streamers of judgment and hatred and fear.

Thinking hard, she turned a corner and almost ran into Ikkaku. She blinked. "Whoa, shiny," she said, without thinking.

A vein throbbed on Ikkaku's head. "Whose head is shiny again?" he growled threateningly.

She grimaced. Before, she had never really liked the guys from the 11th squad, but she had found a new appreciation for them as they continued to treat her as though nothing had happened. "Anyways Madarame, what the hell are you doin' here, are you lost? This is the 10th squad quarters."

Ikkaku scratched his head. "Eh… Captain Zaraki's gone missing, we think he's the one whose lost," he explained. "There's some paperwork due in a couple days, and he's the only one who can fill them out…"

Kara blinked, then chuckled. "To find a guy like him, it takes you that long? I'd just go to the most rowdy place you can find."

"That's idioti-"

At that exact moment, the ground shook, and little puffs of dust fell from the ceiling.

Ikkaku looked up. "This reiatsu and that shaking just now…" He grinned wolfishly. "HEY CAPTAIN, WAIT UP FOR ME!" he roared, jumping out the window. "See ya, Hotarubi!"

Kara sweatdropped, and continued on her way. But then it hit her that Ikkaku and most likely Kenpachi were at whatever had just caused that shaking. As she thought this, there was another shaking. She glanced at the open window a little nervously. If those two went on a rampage, it was her duty to stop it as a fellow Shinigami…

But she couldn't, even if she wanted to. Bitterness rose in her throat. All she needed to do today was go get something to eat and do whatever work she could before going to sleep, right? On the offchance there was actually trouble and not just Zaraki getting pumped up in a fight, she shouldn't have to be bothered with it. This had nothing to do with her…

Two minutes later found her running towards the source of the commotion, fighting twisted feelings every step of the way. Her search led her outside the walls of Seireitei to Rukongai. One of the far districts to the north-east was on fire, and there was a large number of Hollows sweeping through the area, both on land and by sky, shrieking. The hair stood up on the back of Kara's neck. She instantly picked up the pace.

She could see Kenpachi and Ikkaku going stir-crazy in the air; Kenpachi was cutting down the aerodynamic Hollows left and right, and Ikkaku was howling with excitement as he took down one after another with Houzukimaru.

But on the ground, there were even more Hollows which they couldn't reach. The place was in absolute chaos. Shinigami from all different squads were trying to attack the creatures, but they were confused, not used to working with one another, and the place was going mad. People screamed as the buildings collapsed in flames and they fled through the streets away from the Hollows.

She had to do something. She had become a Shinigami for this.

She thought a quick prayer and drew her sword, hoping that Soukyoku wouldn't do anything. She managed to defend a blow from one of the biggest Hollows before lunging towards its mask.

Unexpectedly, one of the snake-like Hollows leapt at her and bit deeply into her thigh, defending the larger Hollow. Kara yelled and swiftly slit the thing's neck before slicing its mask. The snake-Hollow shrieked before it disappeared into smoke.

But now the big Hollow had its sights set on her. A weakened Shinigami with a large amount of reiatsu was sitting in front of him, injured. Kara had no doubt of its intentions. Gritting her teeth, she rolled sharply to one side as the thing lunged for her heart. She tried to stand, and barely managed it. Jumping on her uninjured leg, she leaped onto the roof of a building. Her footing slipped, and she rolled down the roof shingles and fell onto the street.

She was thankful for the adrenaline which coursed through her system; it helped to numb the pain as she made a makeshift bandage from her under-robe. She tightly wrapped her thigh a couple times before the Hollow crashed through the building. Jumping away, she tested her leg gingerly. It hurt, but she had for the most part stopped the bleeding. For now.

The hair stood up on the back of her neck, and Kara brought her sword up just in time to block a blow from the side. This Hollow, now that she actually looked at it, looked very much like a spider-like creature. As she watched, it threw its head back, then suddenly spit out a large amount of blue-greyish web. She jumped just in time to avoid it. She was irritated. By now, Kara knew she would have usually released her sword and this Hollow would've been history...

A sound broke through the tension of the fight. A child's shrill scream shattered the atmosphere, and the Hollow looked around for the source.

Kara and the Hollow spotted the little girl at the same moment. The Hollow cackled and spit out more web, but Kara ignored the pain in her thigh and managed shunpo, scooping up the girl in her arms and jumping away, right as the web hit the spot where the girl had been hiding seconds before.

The little girl, terrified, clung to Kara neck like a monkey. Kara found it slightly difficult to breathe, and eased the child's arms around her neck. She shifted the small bundle into piggyback and looked for a defensible position.

The only problem was, she was now in a street with burning houses left and right, any one of which could collapse.

The Hollow roared, and spit out more web. Left with no choice, Kara ran through the thing's legs, slashing out with her sword. She managed to sever two of its legs, and it howled as she dashed inside one of the burning houses and hoped she knew what the hell she was doing. Looking around and squinting her eyes against the smoke, she groaned. The three walls were covered in flames, and the open doorway behind them had the Hollow. "Shit."

One of the places left to her was table. It was wooden, but it wasn't on fire yet, neither was the floor around it. Kara quickly detached the little girl from her neck and put her under the table. It wasn't the best defense ever, but it was all she had right now as the Hollow began to claw its way through the door.

The kid looked up at her, eyes wide, and full of fear. "Shinigami-oneechan," she whimpered. "Are we going to die?"

"Don't think that for a second," Kara said gently. "Thinking that way is what gets you killed."

The girl looked slightly reassured, but then her eyes widened. "Behind you!"

She whirled to defend against two of the Hollow's sharp claws. The Hollow was hungry, and in pain, as black blood dripped from its severed legs. It roared and began a flurry of attacks, smashing down on Kara's defense. The little girl screamed in fear and horror as Kara's wound started to bleed again from all the strain and recoil of defending against the attacks.

Self-disgust rose in Kara as the sweat poured down her face, her already tired muscles loudly protesting. _Just how far… have I fallen… to be having trouble with a Hollow of this level?! I can't even release my damn sword anymore! Can I really be called a Third Officer, let alone a Shinigami at all?! _

"_Shinigami-oneechan, are we going to die?"_

Suddenly Kara was ashamed of herself. So busy she had been rising in ranks, studying to further her position, training to increase her strength, she had forgotten her purpose in becoming a Shinigami. To protect…

_**So, you have finally begun.**_

The voice echoed once in her head, before she suddenly saw the scene melt away before her eyes to be replaced by a barren desert. Her head whirled in confusion for a moment before she realized she must be inside the world of the sword, and hope surged through her heart. "Honochoumaru?!" she called. "Are you here?"

From all the cracks in the ground, there a red-hot glow. Kara stepped back. With the remembrance that this was where her sword's spirit lived, she had also remembered when she had last been here, this was a lush field of flowers, fitting for a Fire Butterfly. However, everything here was burned and dead.

Suddenly a column of flames poured out of the ground. Kara fell backwards from the shock wave, and shielded her eyes against the bright light. "Who…?" Even as she asked the question, she knew it was a stupid question. "Soukyouku."

One thing that struck her at this moment was that she was talking to Soukyouku. She was _talking_ to it. It was sentient, something that she registered with dull surprise.

_**That is one of my names.**_ Kara cried out and covered her ears against the deafening voice full of crackling flames. The flames folded on one another until they were the size of a gigantic bird of prey, towering at least twenty feet above her. _**You have begun to remember.**_

Kara tried to get to her feet and found that she couldn't. Her legs wouldn't support her. She was face to face with Soukyoku. She could die at any second. But she still… "Where is Honochoumaru?" she screamed over the roaring wind. "Why did you have to choose me?!"

The great bird eyed her with a huge, golden eye. It seemed to be speaking, but she couldn't hear it completely. _**…the day will come...  
**_

Suddenly the wind reversed direction, throwing Kara forward. The flames began to gather themselves into a minute ball, about the size of a marble. Before she could do anything, the marble flew and sank into her chest…

And she screamed as the flames spread throughout her body, as if her very blood had turned into white hot flames burning her from the inside out.

* * *

Later, she wouldn't remember the time she had returned to her original body. Nor would she remember cutting down the Hollow with a sword that suddenly had blue flames licking the blade.

When she did come back to her senses, she felt weary, more than she had ever before. The memory of the pain was seared inside her very bones, and she collapsed, shivering, to the floor. She couldn't stop the tears.

Kara might have remained there until the building collapsed if it had not been for the little girl's scream as one of the timbers fell right next to the table. Hauling her body as quickly as she could manage, Kara grabbed the small child and held her protectively. With the last of her strength, Kara broke through one of the burning walls.

She thought there were voices calling out in surprise. She blinked, not knowing exactly what was going on. As an enormous dragon of ice soared through the streets, extinguishing the flames, someone with red spiky hair dumped a bucket of water on the pair of them. Renji grabbed Kara by the shoulders and started to shake her, yelling something she couldn't hear. Gently, she managed to take his hands off her shoulders and put the little girl down, who ran to her mother.

Renji was still yelling something at her; he looked really upset. Hitsuguya came into her sightine, along with Matsumoto, running down the street. Matsumoto appeared to be shouting, but the strange deafness continued.

The last thing she saw was the ground rushing up to meet her before she blacked out.

**Alright, chapter two: complete! Pairing suggestions will be much appreciated, as well as any comments or opinions you have about the future of this story.**


	3. Forced Training

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! The pairing has been decided, continue reading to find out, though I think I've made it pretty obvious.**

**Rachel Noelle: Thank you so much for all of that advice! Please continue to let me know how I am doing, I am doing my best to keep Kara human. **

**Traitor-Hero: The pairing is pretty much decided in this chapter, hope you enjoy reading! :3**

**: Thank you very much for the compliment, I hope you enjoy the chapter!  
**

**As always, I do not own Bleach or any of is characters. **

Chapter Three: Forced Training

_She thought she was being burned alive from the inside out. She didn't know how long the pain had been going on, she couldn't move, she couldn't think… she couldn't even breathe for the pain. Liquid fire searing through every single artery and vein in her body, it was eating and clawing at the fragile shell of her body… _

Kara woke up, panting hard. It took her a moment to realize her body was not on fire. On the contrary, she was actually very comfortable. She had been properly bandaged, and she appeared to be in a private room in the medical wing. Judging from the light, it was still night, and she breathed a little sigh of relief.

Then she noticed the dark silhouette of a sitting figure against the wall. Kara's heart skipped a beat when she saw it was Renji, lightly sleeping in a sitting position.

That stupid idiot. He might be one of her best friends, but he should've gone to get a proper night's sleep. She started to roll out of bed to tell him so when he opened his eyes at the sound of the sheets moving. For a moment he looked slightly disoriented before he leaped up and promptly smacked the back of her head.

"OUCH!"

"You IDIOT!" he roared. "What the hell took you so long?!"

Kara blinked, rubbing the back of her sore head. "What...?"

"Don't give me that innocent 'what' shit, you've been asleep for two days!!"

"What?!"

Renji took his fist and repeatedly banged it on top of her head, enunciating each phrase with another hit. "Bitch, hope you had a good sleep 'cause I'm really going to let you have it now. What the hell were you thinking, running into a battle of that scale like that?! Did you even stop for a second to consider that you can't release your fucking sword and that might just lead you to a few fucking problems?!"

Kara opened her mouth stupidly, before closing it again. "You dumped the water bucket on me," she said.

Renji looked like he was going to murder her. "Is that all you have to say?! You threw yourself into danger like that, you get injured, you almost got eaten by a Hollow, you set yourself on fire, and the only thing you've got to say for yourself is 'you-dumped-the-water-bucket-on-me'?!"

Usually, Kara would have replied with some colorful language of her own, but something Renji had said suddenly sank in, and she blanched. "I've been asleep for two days?"

"Are you deaf now?!" Renji roared. "Two days, two fucking days! And _how_ the hell did you manage to strain your body so much, Captain Unohana said something about all your spirit power being used up, but I notice you didn't use a single spell or release that fucked-up sword of yours. While I'm at it…"

Kara listened quietly with amusement as a purple-faced Renji continued to call her (in polite terms) a blockhead, what kind of ancestors she must have had to be such a blockhead, fifteen kinds of idiot, and might have continued had she not said, "But I'm alive ya know."

This particular statement didn't seem to sit very well with Renji. "That's the entire point I'm trying to make here! The chances of you coming out alive were almost nil and you _still_ go ahead and dive straight into the middle of a major fight and-"

"Abarai, I would rather you not hassle my Third Officer right after she's woken up." Hitsuguya came into the room, flipping on the light. He gave Renji a glare of his own. "The nurse called my office to say that Kara was awake, and that the Sixth Squad's Vice Captain was causing a ruckus and waking the other patients."

Renji flushed a little and scratched his head. "I guess I was being a little loud…"

Kara hesitated for a moment before giving him a grin. "Osu, Captain," she said, saluting with two fingers.

Hitsuguya nodded, then looked at Renji. "Abarai, if you please."

Renji didn't miss the fact that he was dismissed. He spared time for another venomous glare before slamming the door behind him. Hitsuguya and Kara could hear his footsteps stomping down the hall.

There was a moment of rather awkward silence before Hitsuguya broke it. "It's about time," he said quietly. "Do you realize you've been asleep for two days?"

* * *

Kara thought it was just as well she was stuck in the hospital for the moment. It was quiet, and being in the hospital was an excuse from having to do her work. She sighed in contentment and lay back on her sheets and dozed, just trying not to think...

It was mid- morning before she was first disturbed. "Yo ho!"

There was a tapping on the window. Kara opened her eyes and saw Yachiru standing on her windowsill, happily knocking.

Inwardly, Kara grimaced. "Vice-Captain Yachiru," she nodded, forcing a smile on her face. "How is Captain Zaraki?"

"Ken-chan's just fine!" Yachiru grinned. She tugged Kara's sleeve. "Hey, want to play a game with me?"

The blood drained out of Kira's face. "No, sorry Yachiru-chan, I have a lot of work to do and-"

"Come on, you can do it later, and you've got a lot of free time since you're in the hospital! Play with me!"

A bag of candy suddenly soared over their heads to come to a rest about two meters away. The little artificially-colored sugar balls rolled out of the open bag and scattered in all directions. Yachiru instantly released Kara to chase the candy, and in the same moment, Kara felt a hand grab her own and found herself pulled quickly out of the room by Hitsuguya.

She blinked. "Wait, what-"

"Shh," he said, silencing her. "She might hear you." He peeked around the corner to confirm Yachiru was still happily gathering up the candy. Turning back, he said, "Let's get a little farther away, and then we'll talk."

They ran away, and then when they had gone a safe distance, Hitsuguya slowed to a walking pace. Kara followed suit, and stared at the back of his head in silence for a little while as they walked without exchanging a word. She wished she could see his face, but they were outside now and even if he turned around she wouldn't be able to see him clearly.

Finally, Kara asked, "So? Did something happen?"

"I've been asked to bring you today's captain's meeting," he said quietly.

Kara stopped dead in her tracks. "What?" she whispered.

Hitsuguya stopped too, turning around to glance at her. He looked slightly strained. "I don't know why they've decided to call you either," he said, keeping his voice carefully controlled. He paused for a moment, then coughed lightly. "I promise I'll do whatever I can."

Something stirred in the pit of her stomach, something ugly and black. Kira couldn't control the spasm of fear which poured down her back. She was ironically reminded of the sensation of the hot water in the shower; the feeling was eerily similar. The Commander? Kira suddenly realized that she was on the brink of something big; when this meeting was over, her life was never going to be the same again.

Her captain watched her, worry in his eyes.

She looked up and met his gaze, brown eyes steady. "Okay," she said, her voice resolved. "Let's go, then."

He nodded. Nothing more needed be said.

* * *

When they entered the hall, all the captains and vice captains were present. All eyes turned towards them at the sound of the door opening, and what little conversation had been going on was silenced. Kara swallowed hard. What the hell was going to happen to her?

Commander Yamamoto looked at the pair standing in front of him for several moments, quietly contemplating. "Captain Hitsuguya, thank you for bringing her."

Hitsuguya only nodded, then took his place among the captains. Matsumoto stood there as well. She was worried as well, judging by the lines which rarely appeared on her forehead.

Kara briefly searched and found Renji standing behind Kuchiki Byakuya. Unbeknownst to anyone else present, he first stuck out his tongue and made a weird face before giving her a reassuring smile. It was amazing, how that smile made somehow made her believe that everything would turn out okay in the end. She got her knees to stop shaking and gave him the tiniest of smiles in return.

"Hotarubi Kara." Yamamoto's voice rang out with all the authority and power of the Gotei 13.

"Here, sir."

"Soukyoku's power is something extremely heavy to bear. The legendary blade said to have the power of one thousand zanpakuto has fallen to you, and there is nothing we can do about the decision. As of now, do you have means of controlling this power for battle purposes?"

Kara hung her head. "No, sir." Her recent attempt the night before was seared clearly into her memories.

"Very well, it was as I suspected." Yamamoto straightened. "Hotarubi Kara, under normal circumstances, we would have sealed away both Soukyoku and you, so that the risk of Soukyoku breaking loose and wrecking havoc upon Soul Society would become far lessened."

The tension in the room suddenly escalated.

Despite his opponent, Renji had opened his mouth to argue hotly. "What the hell are-" before a glare from Byakuya silenced him.

Hitsuguya visibly stiffened. "Commander?" he asked tightly. "As her captain, I have an obligation to object to this type of action being taken with one of my officers, and-"

"At ease, Hitsuguya." Yamamoto looked in his direction. "I said this would be the normal procedure under _normal_ circumstances. However, with Aizen's betrayal and possession of the Hogyouku, circumstances are hardly normal with the Winter War approaching." He stood and thumped his staff on the floor, just once. "The war with Aizen and whatever forces he has gathered will take place within several months. Therefore, you, Hotarubi Kara, you are to master your powers in the time we have left, or we will have no choice but to seal Soukyoku along with your Shinigami powers."

There was an air of disbelief in the room. Yamamoto raised his hand for silence, though there was no need to. "There is a lake far to the east of here with a small island, named Hakuren. This is your designated training area. There are no inhabitants, so it should be safe." The Commander stared right into Kara's eyes. "For this upcoming war, we need every force and power we can use. Rather than being sealed away, this power on the contrary gives you the possibility of becoming a captain yourself, which is the reason the rest of the captains have been called here today to hear your sentence. Will you make your power of use to the greater good of Soul Society?"

Kara was struck dumb. For a moment, her heart had soared. Become a captain? At the same time, she knew she would regret not being part of the 10th squad anymore, for certain reasons... Her throat had suddenly gone paper dry, and the memory of those angry flames consuming her body rushed on her all at once. An involuntary shiver ran up and down her back. She was supposed to master _that_?

And the traning area was in the middle of a lake?! They probably didn't know that she wasn't able to swim and was terrified of deep water. She realized Yamamoto was still talking.

"The science department has confirmed that the fact your sword has not disappeared remains a fact that you are still capable of Shinigami powers."

Mayuri nodded. "After some research, we have realized that the former sword, Honochoumaru I believe? It is still dormant inside Soukyoku's power, and the sword's existence is proof of this. Had Soukyoku totally consumed the original inhabitant, the sword would have been consumed long before now, and Hotarubi-san herself would have probably been carried away with it."

Kara suddenly felt an unexpected flare of hope. Honochoumaru was still alive, still there…?

Yamamoto opened a single eye. "Well, Hotarubi Kara? We wait for your answer."

As he said this, Kara realized one thing. He had not told her what would happen if she refused this training period. She wasn't being given a choice; if he wasn't saying what would happen, she would probably either be sealed, or banished to the human world. Along with this was an acute awareness that her fate was perilously balanced on the edge of a knife. Whether she fell into one side or the other would be a test of her will.

Slowly, she nodded. Just once.

"Very well." Yamamoto sat down. "You will depart the day after tomorrow. Dismissed."

Kara turned around and somehow walked out of the room. She spared a glance back at the assembled captains and vice captains. Her eyes met those of her friends, Hitsuguya, Renji, and Matsumoto, before she slowly closed the door behind her.

So she'd either become a captain or never be able to be a Shinigami again? Kara took a moment to thump her head against the wall before heading back to her quarters. She had some packing to do.


	4. Cloudy Memories

**A/N: Again, thanks for the reviews. If the pairing is not obvious by this chapter... I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do but suggest intense therapy. :"D**

** Eternal. FLITTER: I hope you don't get used to fast updates, I'm going to start updating once a week because stupid school gives us too much stuff to do... '' Enjoy the chapter anyways :D**

**iWolf (anonymous): Lol, this has been the pairing by popular choice. Don't worry though, at some point I'll write a fanfic with that pairing. I don't like working on more than one story at once though, it gets too confusing for me. ^^;; Thank you for the review!  
**

Chapter Four: Cloudy Memories

"_You… hey, you! Red porcupine head, I'm talking to you!!"_

"_What do you want, I'm busy trainin' here!"_

"_What the hell is up with you? I was just going to give you your Kidou textbook; our teacher noticed you'd left it in the room and we have a test tomorrow."_

"_Oh… uh, thanks.....um…"_

"_You don't know my name?! We've been in the same class for three years!!"_

"…_well the same goes for you, what was that about 'red porcupine head'?!"_

"_That doesn't have anything to do with it!"_

"…"

"…"

"_Abarai Renji."_

"_Hotarubi Kara. Nice to meet you."_

Kuchiki Byakuya would seem to others to never care about anything besides his own affairs, but in reality he had very acute senses of observation. He was one who could find anything that was even slightly out of the ordinary in his daily routine; his keen senses could detect the movements and intentions of those around him.

Even without these skills, he would have been aware that his Vice-Captain was extremely impatient for the meeting to be over.

Renji somehow managed to sit still throughout the rest of the meeting. His mind wouldn't settle down; various scenes kept flashing through his head, fragments of memory playing out like a badly-made video…

The meeting finally ended about two hours later at 9pm, rather later than usual. Slowly, he got out of his chair and walked to the door, following his Captain out as all other Vice Captains did, demanded by tradition.

Inwardly, he seethed at his Captain's slow pace. Captain Kuchiki wasn't even making any small talk, as captains sometimes did after the meeting. He simply walked in, what seemed to Renji, an arrogant noble's pace.

When they had left the room, Byakuya spoke. "Renji."

"Sir."

"Do you have any work that must be finished by tomorrow?"

"Yes…?"

"Have it all finished by midnight."

"_Sir?!_"

Byakuya glanced around, his eyes cold. "Is this something that you, as my Vice Captain, are not capable of doing?"

Renji gritted his teeth, holding back all the things he wished he could say. "No, sir."

So this was how Renji found himself stuck in the office until 2am, filling out paperwork.

"_Say, Renji, want to spar a bit? I haven't seen you much ever since we've been assigned to different classes."_

"_That's 'cause you had to get all cocky and jump ahead in the curriculum, idiot."_

"_It's only because your skills are inferior to mine, my cute little underclassman."_

"_Take a good long look at our height difference and decide if you really want to keep calling me 'little'."_

"_Oh? I didn't quite catch that, what did you say again? I tend to forget the words of inferior beings rather quickly."_

"_That is IT. Get on the practice courts right now, and I'll show you just how 'inferior' my skills are."_

Kara lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She stayed completely still, her mind in the area between dozing and sleeping. Her bag of necessities was already packed; she had decided to travel light. The sooner she got there, the sooner she would be back, was her reasoning.

If she ever got there. She felt a vague prick of embarrassment; her sense of direction was terrible. Kara would have never admitted it to anyone, but it had taken her the better part of a year to accurately remember her way around the Academy; it had taken longer to get used to the Shinigami quarters since so many of the buildings looked exactly the same. To save face, she had always tried to walk with someone who had the same destination as her. Most of the time, it had been an effective strategy. If she could make it outside of Rukongai, she would be fine; the woods were almost like her second home, though she had never been as far as this lake Hakuren before.

Kara wondered if there was any diplomatic way to ask for a guide, but rejected the very thought. Everyone was busy with their own training and work, it would be way too incredibly selfish to ask for a guide. Especially with a battle against Aizen drawing so close…

Memories of her time in Seireitei and the people she had met kept playing before her mind's eye, but she pushed them away. It wouldn't be good to be distracted, especially with something so important coming up. All through the night, she continued to mentally go over her list of items, not wanting to forget anything important, carefully avoiding thinking about the people she would miss, especially...

"_Hey, Renji, why'd you get a whole ton of tattoos all of a sudden?" _

"…_no reason really."_

"_What's the point then?! And why the hell on your EYEBROWS?!"_

"…"

"_Well if your intention was to look 15x more like a gorilla, you've succeeded. Congratulations."_

"_Can it already!"_

No, she couldn't be thinking about this! She had to focus on tomorrow…

After fighting numerous mental battles such as these, Kara suddenly saw the rays of the sun streaming into her room, steadily growing brighter.

By the time it had fully risen, she had decided that before noon, she would be gone. Lingering for an extra day wouldn't do any good.

* * *

Hitsuguya was not in a good mood this morning. Matsumoto had already mysteriously disappeared, leaving him with all the paperwork again. He almost regretted having volunteered to take over all of the Fifth Division's paperwork as their captain was gone and Hinamori still being held in recovery. Something twinged in his chest painfully. Hinamori...

He had half a mind to go hunt down Matsumoto and force her to do her share of the work when suddenly the paper on his door ripped in half and a yell.

A stress mark throbbed on his head. "Kara…"

Kara rubbed the back of her head in the spot where it had hit the floor. "Osu, Captain," she said cheerfully.

He noticed the pack she had been carrying. "Leaving early?"

She pulled herself into a sitting position. "Yeah… after I stop by the Research Department, I'm going to head out." Kara met her captain's eyes. "But I'll be back."

There was a slight pause, then Hitsuguya nodded with an unreadable expression in his eyes, just once. "Take care of yourself."

"_So you've finally graduated. What took you so long?"_

"_Shut up, now I've caught up to you."_

"_No way, you're still my little junior. Real experience in the field is the key, and I've had six successful missions already."_

"_Don't call me 'little', who's the one who barely comes up to my shoulder?"_

"_Just you wait,_ little_ junior. You can just sit back and watch as I become a seated Officer, I've just received the promotion, the official ceremony to 7__th__ seat is in one week, be sure to be there!"_

"_Why you…Hmph, just you wait, I'll rise so fast you won't even have time to blink, and I'll be so far above you, you'll have to bend your neck way more than you are already in order to see me."_

"_Was that a challenge from the greenhorn? Ooh, I'm so scared…"_

Renji woke up with a sharp ache in his hand from having held a brush for so long. He clenched his teeth in frustration as he thought of his captain; but all the stupid paperwork was done. For a moment, he simply lay there and stared at his hand before shaking his head roughly. It wouldn't do any good to brood over things, which would just make his mood worse.

He kicked the sheets off, and when he saw his clock, his stress level skyrocketed. This was accompanied by a colorful stream of words, along with some loud bangs and crashes, successfully frightening some members of the Sixth Division passing nearby at the moment.

Bursting into the office after having quickly changed into his Shinigami robes, he was surprised that Captain Kuchiki did not look angry in the slightest bit.

Byakuya didn't even look up as his vice-captain ran into the room. "Renji."

"Sir, I apologize for my lateness-"

"Do you have any work to finish?"

A vein pulsed in Renji's forehead. "No sir, it was all finished last night, as per your instructions."

"Very well. Dismissed for the day."

For a moment, Renji just stood there.

Byakuya glanced up. "What are you still doing here? Do you still have work to finish?"

"N… No sir." Renji quickly bowed before backing out and sliding the door shut. He stood there in shock for a moment, before he quickly ran off to the Tenth Division quarters.

Back in the Sixth Division office, Byakuya serenely continued his work.

"_Whaaat?! How'd you become a Vice Captain before me?!"_

"_Ha, who's the inferior one now, little bean sprout?"_

"_Don't get all cocky since you've only gotten one seat ahead! Watch me, I'll be promoted soon enough!"_

"_In your dreams. I'll be a Captain long before you even receive your next promotion."_

"_Like hell I'm going to let you do that!"_

Hitsuguya looked up as he was disturbed for the second time that morning, a slightly annoyed expression crossing his features. He took a moment to survey the panting Renji who had just slammed open the door to his office without even knocking. "May I help you?" Hitsuguya asked tightly.

"Captain Hitsuguya, do you know where Kara is?"

The young captain turned his head, looking out the window, before glancing at the clock on the wall. "…she's already left. She didn't seem to want to stay any longer than was absolutely necessary."

"What!?"

"She planned to stop by the Research Department, then leave from the Eastern Gate directly afterwards."

After a rushed 'please-forgive-me-for-my-rudeness', Renji sprinted away without another word.

A small vein pulsed in the corner of Hitsuguya's head. "That bastard… he even forgot to close the door."

Renji ran as fast as he could. "That idiot!" he muttered. "What the hell gives her the right to go off like that, without even sayin' anything?" He increased his pace. "Just you wait Kara, when I get my hands on you..."

* * *

Somehow, instead of making her way to the Eastern Gate, Kara had found herself at the Western one. After cheerfully greeting Jidanbou, the kindly giant pointed her in the right direction, but she had decided to walk around the walls instead. No matter which direction she went, she reasoned, after she passed one gate, she would be at the Eastern Gate. A day lost in simply wandering the walls was not quite so disagreeable as it would have normally been with her. Even with her directional skills, it would be impossible to get lost.

As she walked, she thought about what she had read in the Research Institute archives. Because the information had personal connections with her, she had been allowed to see the information gathered on Soukyoku.

In all honesty, there hadn't been very much to read. There was a detailed description of Soukyoku's sealing method, which she had ignored; if it was really sentient, then it would require another kind of sealing method for its current form, which she bet they were on overtime working on.

Only one fact had been of any real interest to her. It was a single, archaic document that looked centuries old, yet it had contained the information that had completely blown her mind.

Soukyoku was a phoenix.

In a way, this explained a whole ton of things. Phoenixes had always been associated with the element of fire, and she had no doubts about as to why after her recent experience. It also explained why it seemed to favor the shape of a bird. The burned flower field in the world of the sword. She also had an idea now about how to talk to it.

And yet, it raised a thousand more unanswered questions. Why was it sealed? Who brought it to Seireitei, and who was able to seal something like that to begin with? Why was it used as an execution tool? And why the hell did it exist?! It was a mythological creature, a fairy tale!

Forcing herself to brood on these questions was an extremely effective way of temporarily forgetting the people she was about to leave behind.

Several hours later, she neared the Eastern Gate and greeted its guardian before pausing, staring into the depths of the city one last time. Then she turned around. She was about to really leave this time, and she wasn't going to look ba-

"KARA!!"

Kara turned and saw what appeared to be at first sight a red headed bull charging in on her. So saying, she naturally followed her first instinct; scream and run tactic.

"AUGH!"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"

"PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE, MR. BULL! I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU!"

"LIKE HELL I AM, GET BACK HERE YOU!"

"Wait a sec… Renji!?"

"IT _IS_ RENJI DAMMIT, STOP RUNNING!"

"Who the hell would stop with a face like that chasing them?!"

"That's IT!! When I get my hands on you I'm going to kill you!"

"MY POINT EXACTLY!!!!!!!"


	5. See Ya

**A/N: Alright, here's a chapter with no real part of the planned plotline. It's just a little fluff I wanted to post to keep ya going (and also to see if I can actually write decent fluff), hopefully keeping you interested in this story... there will definitely be more later though. My humble thanks to everybody who has reviewed and supported me thus far!  
**

**iWolf: Haha, that's not a problem at all. I'm glad you're enjoying the story!**

**Traitor-Hero: I personally hoped that people would like this pairing for this story. At some point though, after this one's finished, I really want to write a HitsuxOC one... more on that later...**

**NoeBody09: LOL I'll do my best! I have the whole plot basically planned out, so I don't think I'll loose interest in this story anytime soon, you may count on that. Thanks for the comment!**

** Eternal. FLITTER: Ya know, fanfiction doesn't seem to like your name; whenever I enter and then save the changes to the doc, it always appears blank wherever your name was... Anyways, glad you can see the pairing now! Let me know how I'm doing on the fluffy stuff... never really tried writing it before.**

Chapter Five: See Ya

Anyone who was out on the edge of the eastern end of the 4th district, closest to the Seireitei, was a witness to a spectacular mad dash through a large section of the town that afternoon, which strangely took place on mainly the roofs of the buildings.

"Haha, you'll never be able to catch me Renji!"

"Stop running already, dammit!"

"Like hell I'm going t- HEY, using shunpo is against the rules!!"

"WHAT RULES?!"

About five minutes later, Renji finally managed to succeed to shunpo directly in front of Kara. Though this is what he had been aiming for, this was a poor choice to make as Kara was unable to kill her momentum fast enough. She crashed into him, and the screaming pair bounced their way over several rooftops before falling into the branches of a tree.

Kara shouted as she hit the ground on the back of her head onto a deserted road, immediately getting up and rubbing the sore spot. "Why twice in one day…" she groaned.

Then she noticed Renji, who had somehow managed to land on his face. She winced. "Well… I guess it could've been worse…"

Renji leaped up, his entire face red from where it hit the ground. "Damn you Kara!" he yelled. "Why the hell did you keep running?!"

"It was amusing. Anyways," she said quickly before Renji could explode. "What the hell are you doing? I wouldn't think that a Vice-captain has enough free time to run around and play tag."

A vein pulsed in Renji's forehead. _She thought it was a game?!_ "Yeah, all the work that I've got for today is already finished. In any case I've got a question for y- What the hell is up with that 'I-don't-believe-it' face?!"

"You… finished work… early…" Kara slowly got to her feet and turned her back to him. She leaned heavily against the tree. "Just give me a second…"

Renji promptly whacked the back of her head.

"OUCH!! Renji, you JERK, what was that for?!"

"That's the question I should be askin' you! What the hell did you think you were doing, leaving without saying a single word?!"

He had expected her to yell some nonsense answer back in his face, but he was surprised when she suddenly looked at the ground, an embarrassed flush tinting her nose. "Well… I just thought that the sooner I left the sooner I'd be back," she mumbled to the tree."

The popping vein returned to Renji's forehead, about six times larger than the first. "That was your entire-"

"Also," Kara said, raising her voice to override his. "I'm definitely coming back; it's just like I'm going on a long-term mission. That's all; I don't need to go around saying goodbyes as though I'm never coming back."

Renji blinked before he pounded the top of her head.

"OUCH!"

"Goddamit, if you feel that way all you need to do is at least say something like 'see ya later' before you go!"

"That's no reason for you to hit me all the time! I could sue you for abuse!"

Kara and Renji began to walk up the street, bickering viciously.

_Just saying 'see ya' huh… didn't really think about that…_

Suddenly Renji stopped. "Hakuren is due east?"

"That's what the Commander said," Kara sighed.

"You were heading south."

"Isn't that your fault, I was following you!"

"No, I thought I was just going in your direction!"

It was in this way that Renji ended up guiding Kara to the end of Rukongai, the pair bickering away the entire afternoon.

* * *

The sun was setting by the time Kara and Renji had reached the end of Rukongai. Rukongai ended on this side with a large grassy meadow with a single tree between the houses and the forest. Kara sighed at the sight of the trees, they brought back memories.

Renji coughed awkwardly. "Um… I guess I should be heading back now."

"Don't be an idiot, you can at least stay and enjoy the sunset, right?" It was lame, but she didn't want him to leave.

"If were going to do anything like that, let's at least get to that tree over there. My feet are killing me."

They both leaned contentedly against the trunk of the tree in comfortable silence for a while, watching the sun set over the houses. As the sun sank ever lower, it bled crimson hues onto the clouds and turned a deep orange brilliance. The silence hovered over them like something warm; it was refreshing after all of their talking.

When the light had begun to fade in earnest, Kara spoke. "Hey, Renji?"

"What?"

Kara scratched the side of her face and looked away. "…Thanks."

"For what?"

"A whole lot of shit I don't feel like listing right now."

Renji wasn't really sure if he should be annoyed or not, but he was sure he was glad that it was getting dark, it hid the small heat wave in his cheeks. "It's not like it was a big deal…"

They sat in silence for a little while longer. The warm summer's night enveloped them, and the fireflies began to emerge.

Renji jumped a little when he felt a slight weight. Turning his head, he froze when he realized Kara had fallen asleep, her head on his shoulder.

If anyone could've seen his face at that moment, they might have mistaken it for a tomato. A tomato with steam pouring out of its ears.

After the initial shock, Renji sneaked a look at her face. He blinked in surprise. He was used to seeing her always making fun of him, being angry, being embarrassed. He had seen her temper tantrums and her depressed state, ruthlessly cutting down Hollows or laughing just for the sake of laughing. He had seen her as she had taken authority over a small group of Shinigami and mobilized them for battle, watched as she had sulked over a mission that was not perfectly carried out. Something inside him twinged as he remembered her hollow eyes as she had run out of the burning house, and the two days as she thrashed in her hospital bed fighting some unknown enemy.

But he had never seen her like this before, looking so peaceful. It unnerved him slightly; he wasn't used to seeing her look so… vulnerable.

A curious firefly came and landed in her hair, the slowly pulsating light illuminating a small part of the orange ponytail. Moving carefully so he wouldn't disturb her, he took his opposite hand and waved it away.

Renji's facial muscles twitched, not knowing exactly what expression to make, before he leaned back against the tree and sighed. If anyone could have seen him, to all appearances he would have looked annoyed except for the slight color remaining in his cheeks.

* * *

Kara opened her eyes and blinked, temporarily blinded by the first rays of the morning sun. She felt strangely warm and closed her eyes again, trying to fall back into the comfort of sleep.

It took her several moments to remember first, where she was, and what she was doing. It took her another moment to realize the placement of her head.

Renji was lightly sleeping in much the same way he was in Kara's hospital room when he was rudely awoken by a loud, "HOLY CRAP, RENJI?!?!"

Kara thrashed and fell backwards. "You shithead, why the hell didn't you wake me up?!" One side of her face felt strangely cool, and she rubbed it impatiently, hoping it would hide a different kind of coloring quickly rising in her face.

Renji yawned loudly and stretched. "Morning already?" he asked sleepily.

"You moron!" She banged Renji with her fist on the top of his head; something that she rather enjoyed considering she was too short to do it when he was standing. "Stupid stupid stupid!"

"Put a sock in it," Renji grumbled, still not fully awake.

A stress mark appeared on Kara's head, and she punched his face into the ground with all her might.

"AUGH! Dammit Kara, that HURT!" Renji roared, finally awake, pulling his head out of the lovely crater his face had made on the ground.

The pair glowered at each other for a moment before they both sighed.

Renji stood and dusted himself off, grinning. "Geez, it always seems to end up like this, doesn't it?"

"Don't talk like that, it makes you sound like a corny old geezer."

"What was that, ya little bitch?"

Kara gave him her crooked grin. "That's better."

There was a brief silence where both of them weren't quite sure what to say. As the moment stretched out longer, they grinned at each other then both burst out laughing, genuine laughter that banished all dark thoughts for a single, shining memory. In a small corner of her mind, Kara desperately wished that this wouldn't have to end. Commander Yamamoto was definitely about to jump out of the trees and yell, "Surprise! You don't have to go after all!" The image of the stern Captain Commander doing such a thing made her laugh even harder.

Renji was the first to regain control. "Guess I'd better be heading out now," he said, looking at the sun peeking over the tops of the trees.

"Yeah, I should get going too..." Kara slowly picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulder and walked past Renji. There was a slight heaviness in her heart as she wondered when she would be back, wondered how long it would be until they met again. Right before she headed into the trees, she paused, turning and smiling crookedly. "See ya later, Renji."

Renji couldn't help but grin back. "Yeah. Take care of yourself."

Then the field was suddenly empty, the tree's leaves whispering quietly in an unfelt breeze.


	6. For What Reason?

**A/N: Thanks again to my faithful readers, you don't know how much I appreciate you all! The folktale that I used is actually a real one, originating from China during the Tang dynasty, if I'm not mistaken... so I do not own it.  
**

**And I apologize for forgetting the disclaimer last chapter. Here it is, I do not own Bleach or any of its characters, but I hold all rights to my storyline and to Hotarubi Kara. **

**As an overall reply to the reviews I have received, it seems as though my writing fluff is a success! I personally enjoyed crafting Renji and Kara's arguements the most; the challenge is now to get them to speak civilly with one another... or maybe they just won't. :3 I'll be sure to write more fluff... but don't expect it for a while.**

**Alright, I'll stop rambling now. Enjoy the chapter, and thanks again to my reviewers!**

Chapter Six: For What Reason?

Hakuren was about a two day journey away, on the farthest reaches of the Eastern Rukongai district. The last of the houses had disappeared a long time ago; panting, Kara stopped short when she came into sight of the enormous lake.

A lake?! This was almost an ocean! The shore stretched out to the horizon on either side of her, and if she squinted, she could barely see the mountains which separated Rukongai from the desert where the Hollows lived.

The whisper of the leaves rustling in the breeze was a comforting sound; she hadn't felt this disconnected from people ever since before she enrolled in the Shinigami academy. Back then, it was startling to be around so many people, but now that she was all alone again, she felt a pang of sadness for what she had left behind.

Kara stopped to enjoy the color of the deep blue water from the shore, taking off her pack and stretching. Smiling, she took off her sandals and socks and dipped her feet in the gentle waves. The water lapped at her feet, sending cold shivers up her spine at the unexpected temperature, but it did feel good on her sore feet.

This was as far into any body of water she would care to enter; having nearly drowned as a child seemed to have left its mark on her life.

Sitting on the beach, Kara turned her head to look at her sword, sitting innocently in its sheath. She stuck her tongue out at it.

On her way here, she had thought long and hard about how to speak with Soukyoku; how, exactly, does one speak with a legendary bird who had been sealed away for who knows how many thousands of years?

Briefly, she wondered if seals felt like chains, and how inhuman it was to chain birds to the ground. It was like the tale of the emperor, who so loved the song of the nightingale that he imprisoned it in a cage so that he could ever hear it sing. He gave it all possible luxuries, the finest grains to eat and the softest silk sheets upon which to sleep; the cage was fashioned from the purest gold and jade, decorated with precious stones. But after its capture, the nightingale could not be made to sing, and began to waste away. Concerned, the emperor had ordered the finest doctors to look into its condition, but none could heal the little bird. It wished nothing for riches and honor among humans; it was dying for the freedom of the sky.

Kara sighed. It had to be done at some point… She had her hand on the hilt when she noticed that the light was starting to fade and she had yet to set up camp. With a sigh of relief, she put it down and began to unpack her bag.

At least that story had a happy ending. The emperor had realized what was happening, and with great sadness, he had released it back into the forest behind his palace. Remorseful, the emperor apologized and had offered the nightingale anything in his kingdom as atonement for his mistake in imprisoning it. However, the nightingale, grateful for being set free and touched by the emperor's love for its song, had asked only for a rough wooden perch to be placed on the emperor's porch, so he could sing to the emperor the song he so loved every evening.

* * *

After having been lightly chastised by Byakuya for being late, Renji was a little put off by how easy it was to fall back into his regular routine. Filling out paperwork, helping his subordinates with their training, answering questions, greeting friends…

Life still went on as usual in Seireitei, even though Kara was no longer there to argue over stupid things with.

Speaking of Kara, one thing he had taken him by surprise was the number of sly looks he was being given by everyone, even a chuckle or a smirk here or there. It had taken him a while to realize the reason for this; he had disappeared overnight with a girl. The rumors spread by his absence were rather... elaborate. After several people had confronted him about this, Renji soon realized that a blow to the head and a short shouting bout would usually take care of the matter.

Annoyed with himself, he managed to pull himself away and sneak into the underground basement in which he had first discovered his bankai, where he had trained with Ichigo during the ryoka invasion. Because of the special spiritual barrier around it, he had no reserves about releasing his bankai and refining some of his battle techniques there; though he hated to admit it, Byakuya had been right when he had said Renji's bankai was still extremely raw.

"Hey, nice place you've got here."

Renji turned to find Ikkaku standing there. The 11th squad's 3rd seat grinned wolfishly at Renji's surprised expression. "Been wondering where you've disappeared to."

"Ikkaku-san…"

"Ah, don't worry. I ain't here to bug you about your little adventure last night, I don't think a kid like you would do it anyways, so can it." Ikkaku scratched his head, totally disregarding the fact that Renji's face had turned a beet red, whether from irritation or embarassmenet, even Renji wouldn't have been able to tell. "Nice little barrier around this place… Using it to train your bankai?"

Renji nodded. "Yeah. I need to get better control-" If it weren't for his reflexes, Renji was quite certain he would have died that next moment when Ikkaku lunged for his head with a released Houzukimaru.

Stepping back, Ikkaku gripped the staff in two hands. "Well I bet you're not getting much out of just wavin' that thing around," he grinned. "Prepare yourself, Renji. I ain't going to go easy on you just cause you were part of 11th squad before."

A grin slowly spread over Renji's face, and he took his stance. "Perfect, this is just what I needed."

"Bankai! Houzukimaru Ryuumon!"

"Hihou Zabimaru, Hikou Taihou!"

The great clash was enough to scare the nearby birds into flight, though the spiritual barrier did its job well. After the sun had completely set outside, Renji and Ikkaku agreed to meet up again the next day to spar again.

And the days began to pass.

* * *

It was the sixth day since she had arrived. Kara fiddled with her handmade practice dummies for a moment before she swept into action, cutting through them with six decisive strokes.

Then she did a number of push ups, sit ups, and then steeled herself for a long run. She had been training her physical body nonstop for the past six days; she was sore and tired all over, but it was a very effective form of procrastination.

She paused in her stretching, a wave of shame battling with her instinct for self-preservation. This wasn't what she was sent here to do.

Kara fought with herself for a moment longer before she grabbed the hilt of her sword and dove into it before she could change her mind.

Again, she found herself on the burned plain. Kara stubbornly sat down and crossed her legs. "Come out, Soukyoku."

**You've come, little one.** The flames rushed out of the cracks in the dry ground and twisted again into the shape of a bird, but Kara was surprised to see that it was no larger than she, compared to the monster she had seen before.

"You shrank…?"

**I may take whatever size I please.** It regarded her calmly with a golden eye. **Why have you come?**

"To talk." Kara could feel herself shaking, but she forced herself to be casual. "Will you lend me your power?"

**To do what?**

"To fight."

**I will not, you who do not know my true name.**

Kara sighed, clasping her hands together in her lap. It seemed a natural position, but her knuckles were dead white.

The bird peered at her. **So full of fear… **

"A phoenix…" Kara tried to meet its gaze, but she thought she could feel flames licking along the length of her body when she did. "You're not really a zanpakuto, are you?"

**You are correct. However,** it spread its wings, **I have been sealed in the form of one, and now I am fused with one. **

Kara looked up, alarmed. "Then… Honochomaru is…"

**This Honochoumaru and I have been one and the same ever since I had entered this world.**

Disappointment welled up in Kara's throat, but she forced it back down.

The vicious-looking beak preened its wing feathers with surprising grace. **You wish to borrow my power. For what purpose do you desire this?**

"To become stronger."

Suddenly, a column of enormous flames erupted from the little bird, the force throwing Kara backwards onto the scorched land. _**DO NOT LIE TO ME.**_

Kara couldn't answer, couldn't breathe, all the oxygen in the vicinity was being sucked from the air.

Soukyoku seemed to sense this, and suddenly took flight. Kara gasped as it took off, ripping the earth apart with its talons. It was very high in the air, but when it spoke, it was as clear as when it had been right next to her.

**The seal of the Soukyoku rendered me unable to obtain a coherent form after it had been broken; I required a living soul to regain myself. Do not think I would have chosen a host with so light a reason to desire strength.**

Kara could feel sweat beads drawing paths down her cheeks and soaking into her collar. She swallowed hard, but her throat was completely dry, the enormous reiatsu being emitted felt like it was crushing her, suffocating her...

The great bird slowly circled and landed gently about ten yards away from Kara, raising a small cloud of dust as it landed. The spiritual pressure lessened. **Begone. Do not return until you have a proper answer for me; then I shall tell you my true name. When you return, I will then test you to see if you are deserving of my power. Do not disappoint me.**

Gasping, Kara collapsed onto the ground, somewhat shocked to find herself back in her real body.

What was even more surprising was the position of the sun, already setting towards the trees at her back. Kara quickly tried to assess how much time had passed, but then remembered that time inside the sword didn't flow at the same rate the rest of the world moved.

It was just as well. Weariness settled into every muscle in her body; she barely managed to unroll her bedroll before collapsing on top of it and going to sleep almost immediately.

_The reason I desire power is…?

* * *

  
_

Late that night, Renji was walking back to his room from training with Ikkaku, when the sky suddenly opened and rain began to pour on his head. There was a flash of lighting and thunder boomed; it was the last thunderstorm of the season, so it seemed.

With a low curse, he ran under the shelter of the trees and glared at the sky. There was another fork of lightening and roll of thunder, as though the sky were responding to his challenge.

He wondered how Kara was doing, it had been almost nine days since she left. He grinned ruefully as he remembered how much she hated rain…

Hitsuguya looked up from his paperwork to glance at the clock for a moment; he sighed as he noted that Matsumoto had still not returned. She had left to take a fifteen minute break… and it had been three and a half hours since she had disappeared. He had given up a while ago about his Vice captain actually returning; she was probably out drinking somewhere.

Usually, he would've grabbed Kara if she were nearby and have her help him with the remaining paperwork, but his Third seat was also inconveniently placed. He looked out the slightly open window which was letting the rain in.

A cool breeze floated in, a premonition of the winter to come. He breathed it in gratefully; summer had never really suited his tastes, and the stubborn Indian summer looked like it was finally leaving.

He tried to concentrate on his paperwork again, but he found he couldn't. Something… he thought he could feel something closing in quickly on Seireitei. Getting up, he opened the window completely, regardless of the rain which suddenly blew into his office.

It wasn't clear, but when the lightning flashed, once, he saw something on the very edge of the horizon flying towards Soul Society from the west. Whatever it was, it possessed a staggering amount of reiatsu, he could feel that more clearly now he could actually see it.

And it was getting bigger.

Hitsuguya gave himself time for a slight groan before jumping out the window to go report to Yamamoto. He hated it when he was right.


	7. Reason To Fight

**A/N: Thank you to all who have reviewed, as usual! I do not own Bleach nor any of its characters, but I do own Kara.**

**Eternal. FLITTER: Your question of what was flying on the horizon is answered in this chapter. :3 I've got some big-ish plans for that thing... **

**iWolf: Lol, I was basing that view off of the Bount arc (which I am aware does not appear in the manga); I hope that didn't ruin this story for you, I would hate to loose a valued reader!**

**On with the chapter!**

Chapter Seven: Reason To Fight

Seireitei was in a state of emergency. A creature with an enormous volume of reiatsu was approaching with no peaceful intentions. All the divisions of the Gotei 13 and the Kidou corps were mobilizing, and there was an emergency captain's meeting called by Yamamoto.

Yamamoto surveyed the 12 captains and their Vice captains below him. For once, they had all appeared on time. He banged his staff once to call all attention to him. "We are under attack," he stated simply. "I am sure you all know the general situation, but let me fill you in on the details." He opened one eye. "This creature is not a Hollow, nor does it have any Hollow-like qualities; the chances of it being under Aizen's control are slim. Also…" Yamamoto paused. "We must have someone perform a communication spell and call back Hotarubi Kara."

There was a ripple of surprise in the room. For a moment, Renji completely forgot about the present circumstances. He had been awoken rudely by alarm sirens and had jumped out of bed as quick as he could. He could sense that reiatsu too, but one source of relief had been that Kara wouldn't bee in any danger; she couldn't fight with that damned thing possessing her sword. But now…

"'Xcuse me, Yama-jii," Captain Kyoraku of the 8th division spoke. "Is there any real reason to call her back?"

"Please explain yourself."

"Well you know, the kid might not have full control over those powers; it's only been a little more than nine days since she left. If we tell her to come back now, the battle might be over by the time she gets back; not to mention that if she does, it might pose a problem to the rest of us and our subordinates."

Yamamoto nodded. "Your opinions are well heard. According to our calculations, it will arrive here in less than seven hours. However, the reason I am calling her back is because…" The Commander suddenly looked very old, older than usual. "We have a phoenix on our hands, heading this way with all intention to claim Seireitei and the area around it as its territory."

There was a shocked silence.

Byakuya nodded slowly, just once. "I see. So the reason for calling her back… I suppose that Soukyoku, too, is a phoenix?"

Renji was speechless. Soukyoku was a phoenix? Kara had that kind of thing inside her? And now they were planning to use her as a _weapon_?!

Hitsuguya spoke up, taking two steps forward to direct all attention to him. "Commander, I have said this before, but I am obligated to speak in defense of the well-being of my officer. I cannot accept-"

"You can, and you will." Yamamoto spoke, silencing the young captain. "As _I_ have said before, the weight of one life cannot be balanced against the well being of all of Soul Society."

Hitsuguya knew then that further argument was useless. Stiffly, he bowed to the authority and stepped back into his place.

* * *

"DAMN IT!" Kara sat bolt upright as the rain suddenly poured down, waking her out of her sleep. She seized her bedroll and her pack and ran under the trees, wincing as a sharp rock cut her foot.

Her brown eyes seemed to be black in the poor light as she sat sulkily under the tree. "Stupid rain," she muttered darkly. The surface of the lake danced furiously with the thousands of raindrops hitting it as the waves began to swell.

A stroke of lighting seemed to crack the sky right down the middle, and a chill ran down the length of Kara's spine. Instinctively she grabbed the hilt of her sword and whirled around… but there was no one there.

She swallowed hard.

"Hotarubi Kara."

She jumped and looked around. There was no one she could see, nor could she detect a presence.

"Hotarubi Kara, this is Vice Captain Isane of the 4th Division. I am speaking to you through a communication kidou spell."

Kara felt herself relax, and she released the hilt of her sword. "Good evening, Isane-san."

"Hotarubi-san, please report back to Seireitei immediately; we are under attack."

The hairs stood up on the back of Kara's neck. Seireitei? Under attack?! Who the hell would be insane enough to do that?!

Isane answered her question. "We are not certain, but the assailant may be a phoenix. Please report back as soon as possible. I am ending the connection now."

"Understood."

No hesitation. Kara had everything packed in thirty seconds flat, and she was running towards Seireitei as fast as she could without falling flat on her face.

**What do you intend to do?** Soukyoku's voice echoed in her mind.

"My duty as a Shinigami." Kara almost thought she could see it flying beside her as she raced through the trees, her feet flying. Drops of rain falling from the trees occasionally hit her face, but she simply wiped them with her sleeve and continued to run.

**As you are now, you are unable to fight or defend against such a foe; even if you had such power, would you get there in time? **

"That's why I'm running like this!"

**Do you plan to die?**

"Be nice if I could avoid that…"

**Then stop.**

Kara felt a jerk, and she suddenly found herself on the burned plain once again. Her face grew red. "I don't have time for this!" she roared. "Seireitei is under attack, I have to go help fight-"

**Why do you fight?** Again the hurricane of fire erupting from the ground. Soukyoku's chosen size this time was about the size of a small house. **If you fight to die, I will not release you from here. My life is connected to yours, and I personally have no intention to die.**

For the first time, Kara wasn't afraid, she was too pissed off. "Let me go! I don't have time for your stupid questionnaire or your life story now, you shitty bird!"

Soukyoku seemed unaffected by her language. **Why do you fight?**

"I SAID I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR STUPID QUESTIONNAIRE!! MY FRIENDS ARE IN TROUBLE!"

Flames swirled around the sky, forming into a ball. **If your need is so urgent, prepare yourself, Hotarubi Kara.**

The flames suddenly compacted into a white marble. Kara tensed. She hadn't forgotten what happened last time she had seen the damn thing…

As she expected, the white hot flames poured through her soul body. She could feel her skin blister under the heat consuming her from inside. Her vision disappeared, and she felt herself screaming as the orange flames scorched every inch of her veins. But this time, something was different.

Kara gritted her teeth and clenched her fists so hard that her palms bled. "I won't loose to this!" she whispered though clenched teeth.

Whatever remained of her mind that was not overrun by pain held on tightly to the images of her friends, fueling her urgency; they were all in danger and all she could do was lay here and writhe in pain. She could see them waiting for her, Matsumoto's and Hitsuguya's and Ikkaku's smiles, and Renji's irritably kind scowl…

Something inside Kara broke. "I don't have time for this stupid test of yours!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face, punching craters into the ground. "I have to go help them, they're all going to die! I have to protect them!

_I have to protect them!!!"_

Suddenly, the pain stopped. Soukyoku peered at her, head tilted slightly to the left. For some reason, Kara suddenly thought it looked a lot less intimidating; if she had been in any condition to notice, she might have seen a kind gleam in the liquid gold eyes.

**You have passed, and the final seal has been broken. **The great bird, now the size of a small house, gently nudged Kara's worn body with its beak. **My previous seal was extremely layered; all the layers had dissipated except for the one which prevented my power from being used other than an execution weapon.**

Kara lay on her back, panting hard. She didn't feel like she had any energy left to move, much less go save everybody. "Then… that white ball was…"

**An extremely concentrated version of my flames; the seal was located inside of your body, little one. You destroyed it with your will, and I have accepted your wish. **The enormous golden eyes suddenly seemed very weary. **The natural role of a phoenix is a guardian, little one. This is the reason I have chosen you; finally, you have remembered the reason behind your wish to gain power.**

"A guardian, huh?" Kara closed her eyes and smiled. "Sounds about right…"

**There are three things I must tell you.** The gigantic beak nudged Kara again, to be sure it had her attention. **Though I am now forever sealed in the form of one, I am not truly a zanpakuto; by accepting my power, you will never be able to obtain that second state called bankai. Secondly, you must only call me with the will to protect something; if I am summoned without any incentive to protect, my power will be only a fraction of what it really is.**

Kara nodded, just once. "Reasonable enough," she replied with a tired grin. "Not having bankai might be annoying… but having the power of the rumored equivalent of one thousand zanpakuto isn't something to sneeze at either."

A low chuckle filled the air. **If your will is pure, you will not be disappointed. However, the third thing…**

Kara sat up in disbelief. "Holy shit, you had a weakness like that?!"

**It is not something I enjoy. **The bird preened its feathers primly. **It is the way I am, I cannot change.**

Kara found herself dropped back into the real world. She blinked, somewhat disoriented. The whole exchange hadn't taken more than a minute, and her body felt oddly light.

Kara felt the phoenix's voice in her mind, ringing and triumphant. **Hurry and run! I can help you get there more quickly at least…**

She scowled. "You are completely useless," she informed it, annoyed, before she resumed running… A surprise came in the form of a jet of flames on each foot, making her go at least six times faster than she would have simply running.

Thrown off balance, Kara lost control and promptly crashed into a tree.

She swore she heard the phoenix chuckle. **I did say I would help you get there more quickly.**

Rubbing her head, Kara sat up and groaned. "We have a sense of humor now? What next?"

* * *

_Thud._

The rain continued to pour down. Everyone was assembled outside, and an eerie silence had settled over the members of the Gotei 13.

The phoenix was close, the spiritual pressure in the air increasing with every ear-jarring beat of its wings.

_Thud._

Dark blue flames ran along the length of its body, and there was a steely glint to its silver eyes. A gleaming white mask with enormous fangs sat on its chest. It came to a rest right outside the barrier, cocking its head, regarding it for a moment. Easily the size of four houses, it towered high above the heads of the defending forces.

No one was prepared for the blue inferno which suddenly engulfed the entire western side of the barrier.

"The hell…" Zaraki muttered, a feral grin on his face. "This is gonna get interesting."

"Hold!" Yamamoto ordered as a ripple of fear ran over the assembled Shinigami.

The barrier held, barely. The blue bird flapped its enormous wings irritably and shrieked. **WHERE IS SHE?**

Many Shinigami fell to their knees from the sudden burst of spiritual pressure, clutching their ears. Only those who were at least Forth seat and higher were still standing.

The captains immediately went into action. The phoenix shrieked again. **WHERE IS SHE?**

"What an unpleasant sound," Kyouraku murmured, holding his hat firmly. A second inferno of blue flames hit the barrier; the sound of the flames meeting the barrier almost seemed like an enormous gong.

Byakuya stepped forward, his face betraying , unsheathing his sword. "Scatter, Senbonzakura."

A thousand small blades took to the air, flashing under the pouring rain, launching themselves at the phoenix. It screamed as they bit into its flesh, flapping its wings and taking to the sky. The cloud of deadly blades followed closely behind it…

And then half of them melted in the rush of dark flames pouring from the phoenix's open beak.

As the remaining blades divided their numbers and individualized themselves from the group, Hitsuguya leaped into the air, his blue-grey eyes cold. "Sit upon the frozen heavens, Hyorinmaru!"

The great ice dragon leaped from the blade of the sword, roaring a battle cry. The clouds swirled in the sky, and the phoenix screamed as the dragon bit its neck deeply. Raging blue flames poured from every single one of its feathers; Hyourinmaru melted in a great rush of water. Hitsuguya clenched his teeth and pulled back, reforming Hyourinmaru as the floating knives of Senbonzakura suddenly rushed in. Far from really damaging it, due to their reduced number, this only seemed to further irritate it, and it released the loudest scream yet; it released a sound like fingernails being scraped down a chalkboard.

The other captains were in the midst of drawing their own swords when an orange streak flashed over their heads and slammed into the mask on the phoenix's chest, cutting its scream short as the wind rushed out of its lungs.

Kara had arrived.

**THE END

* * *

  
**

**ahahaha just kidding with ya. got quite a ways to go here**

**now I have two questions for anyone who would care to answer. Should I continue this story to reach into the real Bleach storyline? And what kind of reactions would you like to see from Renji? **

**And if anyone has any ideas/ preferences for fluff I will definitely take them into consideration!  
**


	8. Pain of Loss

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a little rushed... Lotta stuff happens, enjoy!**

**Eternal. FLITTER: Thanks for always being my supporter!! I hope this chapter doesn't let you down! What would you say if I said I am planning an AU story featuring Kara once this story is done?  
**

**NoeBody09: Thank you for the suggestions, I will definitely take them into consideration. Hahaha, Renji's reaction definitely won't be like that, I promise.**

**Disclaimer: Zomg a formal line for the disclaimer... I don't own Bleach nor any of its characters.  
**

Chapter Eight: Pain of Loss

The dark phoenix landed with a crash into the trees. Kara landed lightly in a puddle and wiped the rain out of her eyes. The flames surrounding her feet faded, and there was a silence broken only by the steady fall of the rain.

Hitsuguya stepped forward with his arms crossed across his chest, a wry grin on his face. "You're late, Third Officer."

Kara saluted, then bowed. "My deepest apologies, Captain."

"Have you accomplished what you set out to do?"

"Yes, but-"

An deranged, guttural shriek cut off Kara's statement. Black flames burst from the trees and the phoenix lunged forward; Kara barely jumped away in time to save herself from being impaled by the murderous beak.

**IT WAS YOU.**

The captains all began to rush in, when it shrieked again. **Do not interfere, Shinigami!** Hundreds of portals opened in the air, and Hollows began streaming out with triumphant roars.

Zaraki, predictably, was the only one who was thrilled about this. "Finally, a little exercise," he grinned, before taking off.

An enormous hand suddenly ripped through the sky, followed by many others. Kyoraku tipped his hat a bit. "Well whaddya know… that thing can call out Menos too."

Yamamoto looked at the Hollows, their numbers now increasing to block out the very sky itself. "Hotarubi Kara."

"Here, sir."

"Can we trust you?"

Kara scanned the skies. The clouds had begun to thin; the rain was letting up. "If the rain-"

She brought her sword up barely in time to block another attack from the phoenix. It pushed her through the air, the silver eyes seemed to be glowing in the dim light, full of merciless wrath. **You… it was you!**

Yamamoto nodded to the other captains. "Take care of the Hollow," he ordered.

Renji had barely enough time to register the order when the first wave of Hollows began swooping down and attacking. He clenched his teeth. "Howl, Zabimaru!" _Kara…_

He was about to attack one when a cloud of deadly knives suddenly cut down his target. Surprised, he looked in the direction they had come from. "Captain…?"

Byakuya had his back turned to his Vice Captain. There was a short silence penetrated by the sounds of battle going on all around them. The Sixth Division captain waved his arm, and Senbonzakura cut off six Hollows from the next attacking wave, striking squarely onto the masks. They disappeared with varied screams into clouds of dust. "Go."

Renji blinked, then bowed quickly. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Kara and the phoenix had finally come to a stop. She watched her opponent carefully, her sword raised; during their flight she had lost all sense of direction, but she could hear the shrieks of the Hollows as they attacked and fell against the power of the captains. "You keep talking about me doing something to you…. Have I ever even seen you before?" she asked it.

The phoenix tossed its head in fury; Kara could barely keep the assembled spirit particles under her feet to stay in the air under the pressure of its screech, before it lunged forward, claws extended.

**You, insignificant Shinigami! It is your fault that she can never fly free again!**

It was taking all of Kara's effort just to defend herself against the claws, sword flashing to protect first one side, then the other.

**That damned seal was first, and you have now changed her very existence! She will always be bound in servitude to humans, you despicable monsters!**

"Look who's talking," Kara muttered darkly.

**DO NOT ANGER ME FURTHER.**

A jet of flame suddenly engulfed the spot where Kara had been half a second before. Sensing the burst, she had let herself simply drop; using shunpo, she was now standing about ten meters away from it.

But she hadn't been quick enough. Her left shoulder was badly burned, but she dared not take her attention off her enemy to bandage it. The sleeve of her Shinigami robe slid off of her arm into the forest below.

Forest?

Suddenly the phoenix dove straight for her. **If her human cage disappears, then…!**

Kara screamed a talon bit into her burned shoulder and ripped down the length of her entire arm. Blood streamed out of the cut, and her left arm now hung uselessly at her side. Panting, she gripped her sword as tightly as she could with her right hand and looked up…

As she looked up, she saw the beak of the phoenix lunging towards her head. There was a moment in which time seemed to stop. Kara wondered if everyone felt this way when facing their death…

When a column of what appeared to be wooden tubes attached to one another streaked by her face and met the phoenix square in the jaw; at the same moment Kara felt herself jerked to one side. The phoenix shrieked and fell backwards, pumping its wings furiously to stay aloft.

Kara blinked, not completely sure of what had happened. She slowly turned and saw nothing…

An enormous Shinigami uniform with fur draped across both shoulders suddenly filled her vision, and she felt pressure on her shoulders and her breathing became extremely restricted. It took her a moment to realize that a certain someone had activated his bankai, and now appeared to be holding her with all his might after pulling her out of harm's way.

She blinked again. "Ren…ji…?" she gasped, trying to breathe.

"You idiot!" Renji yelled. "What the hell were you doin', just standing there?!"

"Renji…"

"Did you loose your head completely? Of course it's me, who else?"

"Renji… can't… breathe…"

Renji immediately loosened his grip; Kara simply gasped for a moment before punching him in the gut with her good arm. She noticed he was avoiding looking at her wounded arm and sighed. "You're the idiot," she sniffed. "Who the hell tries to suffocate the person he's trying to save?"

"Why you…" Renji's eyebrow twitched, suddenly feeling a lot less sorry for Kara. "What kinda helluva reaction is that? What happened to being grateful for saving your sorry ass?"

"Yeah, yeah."

**Are we quite finished?** The phoenix regarded them with steely eyes before zoning in on Kara. **Release her.**

Renji blinked. "You can release that sword now?" he asked.

Kara made a face. "I can, but-"

Renji reacted instantly as the phoenix lunged for her again. **Release her!**

It dawned on Kara that the attacking phoenix was male. Renji held up against the sudden jets of black flame which poured from the phoenix's beak.

**Release her, or I will force you to!**

"Can you release the damn thing?" Renji asked through his teeth, straining to keep his bankai intact against the relentless attacks.

"Not right now."

"You're not serious. If you're jokin' around at a time like this, I swear I'll kill you."

Kara winced. "I'm not. I can't release now because-"

A particularly strong ball of flame partially broke the defense; one of the fragments pierced Renji's side through the gap. Blood flew out of Renji's mouth as he stumbled backwards from the impact. Kara managed to catch him before he fell.

To her horror, the black flames still remained on the wound, eating away at the flesh. Sweat beads broke out on Renji's face; the muscles bulged in his neck with suppressed cries of pain. Unspeakable fury rushed to Kara's throat, she could feel it crackling behind her eyes. She recognized the pain; it was very much the same as when Soukyoku had broken the final seal, except it was really aiming to kill him. Fruitlessly, she clumsily stripped off her outer Shinigami robe and tried to smother the flames, but the robe itself was incinerated within seconds.

Kara's head whirled around. "Stop it!" she screamed at the phoenix. "He doesn't have anything to do with my having Soukyoku! Get rid of these flames, you're hurting him!"

**I will not, Shinigami.** It glared at her. **Now you too will know the suffering of only being able to watch as a loved one is forever stolen.**

"He doesn't have anything to do with this!"

**Soukyoku, you said?** It shrieked; if Kara hadn't been supporting Renji, she thought she would have fallen with her hands over her ears. **It is the seal that stole her from me! What right do you have to speak of it!!**

"Bastard, I'm never going to forgive you!!!" Kara was about to respond back with a stream of colorful words (most definitely not taught in the Academy) when she suddenly realized something very important. She looked up at the sky, almost in disbelief. "It finally… stopped raining."

Flames suddenly erupted in a ring around Kara's body; the sudden increase in spiritual pressure threw the other phoenix off balance for a moment. "I can finally fight."

* * *

Back at the borders of Seireitei, all the battles came to a halt for a brief moment as the ring of fire dissipated across the sky to the west.

Matsumoto looked at her captain; his face was impossible to read. "Captain, just now, that was…"

"Yeah." Hitsuguya straightened, looking in the direction that the flames had come.

All the other captains stood still as Yamamoto only nodded slowly. "It has emerged…"

* * *

Gently, she lowered herself down below the branches of the trees and put Renji down. Holding out her hand, orange flames shone at her fingertips. She swallowed hard. "This might hurt more, but bear with it," she whispered.

"Cut the sentimental crap," Renji snapped, his voice hoarse. He flashed her a grin before another wave of pain wiped it off his face. Fresh sweat beads stood out on his face; Kara's heart twisted.

"If you've got enough energy to make smart comments, then lie still," Kara ordered; she tried to hide her fear for him but she couldn't stop her voice from cracking a little.

The voice in her head soothed her somewhat. **Do not panic, little one, or else he really will die. Listen to me and do exactly as I say... **Carefully following the instructions whispered to her through her sword, she sent the orange flames into the wound, hunting down every bit of the black flame, and then slowly drew it out. Renji's face was contorted with the pain of the two conflicting flames, but when the last black flame was drawn out, sweet relief spread out through every inch of his tired body.

The eerily flickering dark flames sat in the palm of her hand, which was shielded by a cup of orange fire. Kara glared at it before crushing it in her fist. The phoenix overhead looked on.

Tearing off her remaining sleeve of the white under robe, Kara tore it to strips and used it to bandage Renji's side.

Though the pain of the burn remained, with the dark flames no longer eating at him from inside, it suddenly seemed like much less to bear. He grinned. "Thanks, Kara."

"Oh shut up and lie still. I'm just returning the favor; you saved my life earlier."

Renji obeyed. Kara finished bandaging the wound and tied it off tightly. "If you move from this spot, I really might kill you," she said very matter-of-factly. "I don't know how well I can control these powers. Don't make me tempted to misuse them."

Blue lines appeared on Renji's head. "Yeah… sure." He held up his hand. "Just be sure to come back."

Kara grinned and slapped him a high five. "I'll do that." She stood and dusted herself off. Then she paused and looked away, slightly embarrassed. "Thanks again…"

"For what?"

"For a whole lot of shit I don't feel like listing right now."

"Hey you…"

Before she could see his reaction, she leaped into the air again, her sword pointed at the phoenix. "Sorry I made you wait," she said politely.

Within her sword, she felt a force moving excitedly. She felt the beat of invisible wings at her back. A voice echoed in her mind, triumphant and exultant. **I have waited thousands of years for this day, to feel the wind under my wings once more! Now call me, little one! Call me! My true name is…**

Kara slowly raised the sword above her head. Orange flames poured from its tip, spiraling around her body in a bizarre cocoon. "Burn with the wrath of hellfire… Kikou!"

There was a blinding flash of light. Kara didn't even know what to expect, but as her eyes cleared, she gasped. Though the rags of her under robe remained, orange, steel armor plates lay on her forearms and her feet, with claws extending very much like talons from the hands and feet. In her hand, she no longer grasped a sword but an enormous scythe. With a pitch black handle and a gleaming silver blade, it stood about a foot taller than she was. A long, thin chain hung off the base and looped around her other hand, a heavy weight hanging off one end. Hearing a large thud directly behind her, she turned her head and saw two enormous wings, clad richly in russet feathers, extending from her shoulder blades.

The most surprising thing was that there now appeared to be a little bird sitting on her head. She blinked. "Kikou… is that you?"

In response, the bird pecked her gently. **Who else, little idiot?**

Upon seeing the little bird, the enemy phoenix roared in fury. **Kikou! How far have you fallen, to willingly be serving humans?!**

**I am disappointed at how far **_**you**_** have fallen, to utter the forbidden spell.**

Kara blinked. "Spell…?"

**There is one way to go against the laws of nature and make our flames dominate water. **Suddenly, Kikou seemed very tired. It launched off her head and perched primly on the top of the scythe. **In exchange for this increase in power, we will undergo something similar to what I believe Shinigami would call… Hollowfication, is it? By giving up our names, we eliminate our weakness to water and the limitation of using our powers only to protect.**

**Coward,** the other phoenix hissed. **You know you desire this power, yet you lack the courage to gain it.**

**I exist to protect. I see no reason to throw away my purpose to merely gain power. Therefore, I will help this human to defeat you…**

Kara raised the scythe above her head. "We need to defeat him quickly, Kikou," she muttered, her vision blurring. "I can't hold out for long… I've lost too much blood."

**Lend me your will, little one, and we will end this with one blow.**

**You will defeat me in a single blow? I hadn't even expected such stupidity from a human, much less you, Kikou!** A bright ball of red, pulsating energy gathered at the tip of the phoenix's beak.

_A Cero!_ Kara beat her wings hard, barely rising above the deadly blow.

Then she heard the phoenix screaming in triumph. **This is my victory, Shinigami!!**

And then she realized the path the Cero was taking.

It was heading directly towards the spot where she had…

"RENJI!!" Kara screamed, folding her wings in and dropping. Flames burst from her feet to accelerate her fall; it was now a deadly race between her and the onrushing Cero.

_Make it in time… please make it in time!!!_


	9. Fledgling

**A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews everyone! Okay, I apologize in advance for any OOCness... but I did my best. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and thanks to those who've stuck with me this far! I have made a decision not to continue this story into the actual Bleach storyline, but... maybe there will be a sequel. :3 **

**Eternal. FLITTER: Thanks for the support! Now the AU is seriously being planned... lots more characters will be appearing in it so look forward to it.**

**kinomikat: What a nice thing to say! I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far!**

**NoeBody: Ha I had fun with that cliffy... hehehe.**

**iWolf: Omg... I hate people who just do stories in chat and they think it's okay. Grammar and spelling are my pet peeves when I read a story... I wouldn't ever speak in chat unless it was a character-speak thing.**

**I don't own Bleach... if I did I wouldn't have to go to school... .  
**

Chapter Nine: Fledgling

Renji watched Kara take off; through the branches of the trees, he saw the released state of her sword and grinned to himself. That stupid girl had really done it…

His body felt as though it was made out of cement. Zabimaru almost seemed to be clucking its tongue at him, saying something about what a crappy defense he had put up and that he needed to train more. The burn on his side throbbed, giving him a severe headache. Closing his eyes, he willed the headache to go away. It didn't work, but it gave him something to focus on…

"RENJI!!!"

**This is my victory, Shinigami!**

He opened his eyes just in time to see the Cero streaking towards him. "Aw, shit…"

There was an explosion which blew away all the surrounding vegetation, accompanied by a blinding flash.

A moment later, Renji found himself extremely confused. The blast should've blown him away… at the very least given him another bruise. But the only thing that had changed from his previous condition was that his ears were ringing. He opened his eyes… and for a second he wondered if he had really gone insane.

The world had been reduced to layers of crimson feathers.

The feathers cracked open to reveal an exhausted Kara. "You okay?"

Renji's eyes widened. Her arm was bleeding more heavily than ever, and there was a trickle of blood streaming out the side of her mouth.

And her long, orange hair was gone, burned away to right below her earlobes. Renji clenched his teeth and forced himself to sit up, even though it made his side scream. "Are you fucking insane?!" he roared, grabbing the front of her ragged robe. "What the-"

Kara's wings dropped limply to the ground. The feathers, bloodied by the impact before, now carried streaks of dirt. "That's good…"

Renji blinked. "What is?!"

"You're okay." Renji froze in shock when he saw a tear run down her cheek. Kara smiled. "I'm really...glad..."

"H-Hey! Why the hell are you crying?!" Flustered, Renji hastily let go of her robe and grabbed her uninjured shoulder. It was then he noticed for the first time that one of her legs was sticking out at the wrong angle.

Kara followed his gaze and winced. "Ouch… I hit the ground wrong…" Shadows of the pain to come made it to her brain, but Kara could see darkness really starting to eat away at the edges of her vision. _Damn it…_

**Little one…**

Renji looked up towards the source of the voice. Kikou, not much larger than a songbird, landed delicately on the ground next to them.

Kara blinked, dazed. "You…"

**Using your wings as a shield… how rash. Next time you wish to block an attack, nullify the opposing power with a blow of the same force.** Kikou's head turned, a single golden eye fixated on Renji. **You, boy. Do you have the strength to move?**

"I was tired of just lyin' down anyways," Renji grumbled, not appreciating Kikou's tone. Somehow, he got to his feet. "Stupid bird…"

"Renji…"

He looked down and reflexively stepped back. Kara was glaring at him, he could almost feel the venom shooting out of her eyes. "What do you think you're doing, Renji?"

A vein threatened to pop in Renji's forehead. "What's your problem?"

"If you're going to fight, you'd better take me too!"

"You're joking."

"I'm completely serious about this."

Kikou sweatdropped as the pair grew dangerously close to a bickering match. It looked up. **I think… it would be a very good idea for us to move.**

Kara and Renji both looked skywards, and Renji had barely enough time to scoop her up and shunpo when the enemy phoenix swooped down, talons tearing the ground right where they had been a moment before.

"Cheeky bastard," Renji muttered darkly, skidding to a halt. He felt a slight tug on his robe and looked down. Kara was breathing hard, her good hand gripping on his robe. He clenched his teeth tightly; it would be bad to keep moving her around because of that leg…

**KIKOU!!** The phoenix seemed to have lost it completely, flailing its wings and neck madly. **KIKOU!!** One particularly violent movement sent the scythe flying in their direction; it landed not even a meter from where they stood, the base embedded in the ground.

The little bird made no response. It simply landed on Kara's shoulder, using Renji's hand as a foothold. **Little one, are you still with us?**

"I'm not going anywhere," Kara said, making an attempt to grin, but a pain spasm wiped it off her face.

Kikou looked at Renji. **Abarai Renji, was it? Help her to stand.**

Renji's face darkened. "You… you aren't planning on making her fight anymore, are you?! She can't even stand on her own!"

**Thus, I am asking for your assistance.**

"Don't you give a shit about if she dies or not?! She's your fucking host or something, right?!"

"Renji…" He looked down in his arms again; Kara's face was white with pain but her eyes locked with his. "I'm not here to be protected by you."

**To worry about a warrior's life on the battlefield is only an insult to that warrior.** Kikou bowed its head. **Know this, Abarai. Having taken the form of a zanpakuto, my life is now tied with Hotarubi Kara's. Defeat here will result in the deaths of us all. **

Renji still hesitated for another moment before Kara thumped his chest lightly. "Just bring me over to the scythe… please."

"It's helluva scary, hearing that word from you," Renji grumbled. Grudgingly, he did as he was asked.

Kara took her hand off of his chest and gripped the handle of the scythe, though she lacked the strength to actually lift it. "Alright… now what, Kikou?"

Kikou alighted on the top of the scythe. **Lend me all the power you can muster, little one. I have said before, we will decide this with a single blow.**

_**KIKOU**_**!** The other phoenix shrieked at the sight of the little bird melting into rings of swirling fire that surrounded the scythe. It lunged, hate burning in its eyes. **YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME AGAIN, SHINIGAMI!!!**

"Bankai! Hihou Zabimaru!" Zabimaru roared as it charged forwards to meet the oncoming phoenix.

Kara looked up. "Renji?!"

"Shut up… concentrate on saving both our skins here…" Renji grunted. The burn on his side opened and began to bleed.

Kara knew she had less than a minute before she fainted from blood loss herself. _All or nothing_, she thought grimly.

As Renji fended off blow after blow from the phoenix, delivering a lot of his own damage to it as well, Kara closed her eyes.

**Concentrate on what it is you wish to protect.** The voice echoed in her mind.

And as Kara thought of what she wanted to protect, she felt a white fire building in her veins… but this time, it wasn't painful and intrusive. This was the flowing of her own power; this was what she fed into the scythe. The flames intensified and began to compact, swirling into a compressed ball at the scythe's very tip.

_What I want to protect…_

When she opened her eyes, Renji was startled to see her eyes had turned a bright gold, the same color as Kikou's eyes.

Using the energy of the white flames, Kara forced her arm to raise itself up… and swung the scythe, just once.

The ball of flames exploded as they traveled through the air, morphing into an enormous bird, bigger even than the enemy phoenix.

For a heart-stopping moment in time, the phoenixes locked eyes with one another. In that instant, there was a mutual understanding of their shared pain they had both suffered over the vast, innumerable centuries. Kikou's final blow could have almost been a tender embrace; later, Renji would wonder whether the string of white drops in the air were real, and if they were, why they had reminded him so much... of tears...

Kara didn't remember the dying shriek of the other phoenix, weakened by Zabimaru's blows and engulfed in a raging inferno of orange and gold flames. She couldn't recall her russet wings melting away in a strong wind, nor the scythe turning back into a blade in her hand.

All she heard was a faint voice calling her name, before she was enveloped by blissful blackness.

After Kara's wings had disappeared, Renji realized she wasn't responding, even when he yelled at her. Sealing his bankai, he gently put her down against a tree.

**Well done, Abarai.**

He whirled. Kikou still stood there, delicately preening its feathers. Renji blinked. "Wait a second…"

Kikou chuckled, but there was something incredibly weary about its posture. **Do not worry, I will also disappear in a moment. But only to rest… I thought it would be good to tell you that now I have been released, I may appear at will. However, I can only appear in this form.**

"Oh… great."

**Be sure to tell this to her when she wakes up: When she recovers, I will be her personal trainer.** It sat down and ruffled its wings. **This little fledgling still has quite a ways to go in terms of controlling my powers. She used too much energy in that last blow; just a little more and she would have died. I would like to prevent that when I can.**

Renji sweatdropped as the little bird slowly faded from sight. Annoyed, he put one hand on his side to lessen the bleeding, then ran off to hunt down Captain Unohana.

* * *

"_So you are victorious, Renji?"_

"_Yes, Captain Kuchiki. But Kara, she's badly injured, I had to leave her back there…"_

"_Abarai, take me to where she is. I'll perform some first aid; Captain Unohana is busy right now."_

"_There is no need for you to go, Captain Hitsuguya. I will go in Captain Unohana's stead." _

"_Vice Captain Isane…"_

"_Lead the way, Abarai-san."

* * *

  
_

"Mind if I sit with you?"

Renji looked up from the hospital bench in surprise, blinking at the glow of the morning sun. "Oh, Kira…?"

The Vice Captain of the Third Division nodded politely. "Good evening, Abarai."

After Renji had moved over to make room on the bench for Kira, there was a short pause.

"Have you gotten your wounds attended to?" Kira asked.

"Yeah…" There was a clean bandange on his burn, though there was hardly any need for it; the Forth Division had done their job well.

Kira looked up at the door at the end of the hall. The sign above the door read 'Intensive Care Unit'. The light behind the glowing sign, usually green, was red. "She's been in there for almost 13 hours… have you had any news?"

"No."

The tone of Renji's voice caused Kira to actually look at Renji. The other man seemed tired, and there was pain in the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes. _He must have been here for this entire time…_ Kira suddenly stood with a warm smile. "I'll come back and wait with you; let me just go grab a couple drinks. You don't look like you've had a bite to eat for a while either."

Renji grinned back, but only halfheartedly. "Thanks Izuru…"

"_Is she going to be okay?"_

"_At this point I'm not sure… we'll do everything we can for her."_

Not exactly the most helpful words in the world. Renji folded his hands and rested his chin on them, staring at the wall.

There had been an enormous panic in Rukongai at the appearance of so many Hollows and fire sweeping through the sky, but the people for the most part had been satisfied by the sight of the Captains appearing to save them. For those who hadn't, heralds had been sent out to explain clearly what had happened.

The captains and vice captains themselves had sustained very little injury; the Hollows themselves had been low level, but the sheer number of them was all they had been able to keep up with. Apparantly at the same moment their leader died, they had broken ranks and had alternately cut one another up or were sliced by the captains who suddenly found the sea of Hollows much easier to penetrate; from that point the cleanup had taken less than twenty minutes. Every single Hollow had either been killed or fled back to Hueco Mundo.

Renji stayed completely still, waiting in the agonizing silence. For the last thirteen hours, ever since they had taken her in, he had refused to leave. The Forth Squad had treated his injuries here, in this very hallway, and then they had left. The only thing which had changed in the room since then was the position of the sun.

Suddenly the light on the sign turned green, and the doors opened. Renji hastily stood up, stiff joints creaking from being in one position for too long.

Captain Unohana stepped out, hands folded in front of her. Her face registered surprise when she saw Renji standing there.

A weary sigh made Renji fear the worst, but then the captain smiled warmly. "Don't worry. She's going to be fine," Unohana said quietly. "Normally I would say that a patient like her would not be awake for a few days, however…"

"Renji?!" Kara was wheeled out on a rolling bed. Renji stared. Other than being covered head to toe with bandages and not having the strength to sit up, she seemed okay. Her eyes were wide with surprise before she looked away from him, something similar to shame etched across her features. "You've been out there this whole time?"

He smirked and tweaked her nose. "Well don't you look all beat up, lyin' there like a mummy."

A stress mark appeared on Kara's head and she threw her pillow at his face. The shadows under his eyes from lack of sleep were suddenly much less important. "What kind of greeting is that? What happened to 'Oh Kara, I'm so glad to see you're okay!', and all the sentimental stuff, you big gorilla?"

Renji instinctively retaliated, taking the pillow in both hands and smothering her with it. "Call me a gorilla again and see what happens to you!"

He regretted this particular action as Kara bit his hand. Hard. He yelled and clutched his hand, which now sported a splendid bite mark.

Captain Unohana tsked as the pair glared at each other and the air crackled with electricity. "Hotarubi-san, you've just undergone major surgery to your leg and have had multiple healings. It wouldn't be good to overexcite yourself so soon…" She clapped her hands, and an attendant appeared to push Kara's bed away.

"Who's getting overexcited?" Kara grumbled. She turned her head to glare at Renji. "If you've got that much time to kill, do me a favor and go stick your head in a bucket of water, ya moron!"

Renji didn't reply, he just watched as she pulled down her eyelid and stuck out her tongue at him before her bed disappeared around a corner. A vein throbbed in his forehead. "That person…"

Captain Unohana clucked. "My, my. Young children these days… shamelessly flirting in front of their elders!" She held a hand to her cheek. "What is this world coming to?"

Without giving a suddenly frozen, beet-faced Renji to respond, she strolled away, humming to herself.

Kira stepped out from behind the corner and handed him a bento with a straight face. "Here you go," he said emotionlessly. "Why don't we go eat outside? The others will want to hear about Hotarubi's recovery."

"Yeah… thanks Kira…"


	10. Starting Point

**A/N: Well this is the end of my first story! Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed and supported me thus far; my final request to you all for this story is to keep your eyes OPEN for the next story. I am planning an AU starring Kara and Renji if anyone would like to see this relationship again (definitely with a more developed plotline), along with the appearances of many more characters than I put into this story, so look forward to it! Thanks so much again for being a wonderful audience, and I hope my fluff doesn't suck!**

**Eternal. FLITTER: Lol, better description of WHY she was in ICU for 13 hours this chapter. What can I say to you but thanks for always reviewing and keeping me motivated to continue this story? I hope your support is going to continue!**

**iWolf: I wouldn't really say 'poor Renji' in this chapter... but I'll leave that for you to decide. Thanks for your support and opinions throughout this whole story, and thank God my grammar doesn't suck!**

**Lauren: Thank you for the review, it made me really happy! I hope you enjoy the last chapter, I now feel a great sense of accomplishment for what I've done... teehee :3**

**And that's it folks! It's been a fun ride~!! Depending on feedback, I might write a sequel which continues this plot into the main storyline... but don't expect it for a while, I really want to get that AU up :3  
**

Chapter Ten: Starting Point

"Damn, what the hell did you do to yourself?!" Matsumoto sighed. "You stupid kid…"

Kara scratched the back of her head, frowning. She had been in the hospital for nearly four days and was almost completely recovered, thanks to the continuous healings she received from the 4th Squad. The 10th Division Vice Captain had been allowed to see her for the first time, and was now sitting in the visitor's chair next to the side of the bed. "Nothing much…" she mumbled.

Matsumoto smacked the top of the younger girl's head. "Don't lie!"

Kara saw stars. "Matsumoto-san… that hurts…" she gasped.

"Sorry… I forgot." Matsumoto had enough grace to look somewhat sheepish before she crossed her arms across her voluminous chest and resorted to repeatedly kicking the bedframe. "I heard from Captain Unohana. You got your arm all sliced up almost down to the bone, then you, somehow, manage to hit the ground at over seventy miles an hour without even _thinking_ about how you were going to land, so you got your leg broken and multiple fractures on the rest of your bones, not to mention what the impact did to your internal organs. And then you had to go ahead and make the break even worse by moving around, meaning that you needed surgery to get all the bone splinters out of your shin! Captain was pretty furious when he found out… you'd better watch yourself for a while."

"How's everyone doing?" Kara leaped on the subject change. "Captain Unohana wouldn't let me have any visitors all this time."

Matsumoto sighed. "Everything's pretty much back to normal. Captain was pretty touchy for a while until we got the report that your surgery was successful. You know Renji was sitting outside your door the entire time? He's the only one Captain Unohana isn't letting in; she said it wouldn't be good for you to get too riled up while you were still in recovery." She surveyed her subordinate knowingly.

"That's because he's an idiot…" Kara muttered unconvincingly.

Matsumoto chuckled. "Oho, what do I see here? Is Kara turning red?"

"W… What?"

Matsumoto leaned in slyly. "Hey, Kara, are you in love with Renji?" she whispered.

"OH isn't that interesting!" Kara pointed lamely out the window. "… Um… there was an interesting cloud. You missed it."

"Is that so…" Matsumoto looked up at the cloudless blue sky and laughed aloud.

If it was even possible, Kara turned even redder. "I… I meant it was a bird…"

"Right, it was obviously a bird you saw," Matsumoto agreed. "A very cloud-like bird. In any case, you still haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"Don't you want to know how Renji feels about you too?"

Kara turned a bright red at being asked so bluntly. Thrown off by the question, she looked at her folded hands. "… During the fight, Renji saved my life. I got hurt trying to help him too… I don't know, when I got out of surgery he had the most awful expression on his face," she suddenly burst. "Matsumoto-san, he looked really mad about something. Do you think he's mad that I tried to save him too? It's just that…" Kara hung her head in embarrassment. "I didn't want him to die… At that moment, the only thing I was thinking…if he died, it would be…"

To her shame, Kara found that her throat had completely sealed itself, and there was a big fat tear dripping out of her eye. She hastily wiped it away.

Matsumoto peered at her thoughtfully for a moment. Then she pouted. "Ya know, your haircut is terrible, by the way."

"It's not like I could help it…" Kara grumbled, surprised and relieved by the change in subject, crossing her own arms. Her burned, orange hair was now in a bizarre diagonal which started under her left ear to touch her right shoulder.

She had asked for scissors before, but the hospital seemed reluctant to provide her with any… apparently they remembered the time she had cut her way through the screen window and escaped, slipping away on a mission before they could catch her again.

"I'll trim it for you later, when you're released," Matsumoto promised. "And afterwards we'll all throw a party for you!"

Kara blinked in surprise, then smiled. "I'd like to drink with everyone, it's been a while."

"Then it's settled!" Matsumoto got up and stretched. "Since you'll be released tomorrow, I'll start go getting everyone ready! I'll come back and visit you later!" She started to leave, whistling a little song.

"Matsumoto-san…"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you have work to do?"

There was a silence, then Kara blinked and Matsumoto had disappeared. She groaned and put her head on her knees. "Damn…"

* * *

"Renji… yo, Renji!"

Renji turned at the sound of someone calling his name, sweat running down his face from training outdoors. "Oh, Rangiku-san."

She clapped her hands like a little kid. "Kara's going to be released from the hospital tomorrow," she informed him. "So I'm going to throw a party to celebrate her release! Want to come?"

Something bitter rose up in Renji's throat. "…"

"Oh come on, don't be shy! You know you want to be there! And…" She winked at him slyly. "You might get a chance to-"

"Sorry… I'm going to have to decline."

Matsumoto blinked. "What? I don't understand; why can't you come?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

Renji averted his eyes and resumed training. Images flashed through his mind's eye… Kara laughing and pummeling his face into the ground, that first time he had met her, their intense rivalries, her smirks and her smiles…

Kara emerging from surgery, covered in bandages… her bloodied face emerging from her tattered wings, and her voice, asking him if _he _was alright…

"I don't want to talk about it."

"There's nothing wrong with relaxing every once in a while!" Matsumoto persisted. "It'll be good for you! And besides, Kara would be glad to see you too."

Renji faltered. The bitter taste in his mouth died and gave way to something much stronger. "I wouldn't be glad to see her," he grumbled.

He was rewarded by a punch to the back of his head. With a yell, he flew facefirst into the wall. "What the hell was THAT for?!"

"How could you say something like that?!" Matsumoto glared down at him, serious for once. "That kid… she was waiting patiently to get out of the hospital so she could see you again! She got hurt because she wanted to protect your sorry ass!"

"Hey, just wait a sec-"

"Rejected." Matsumoto punched him again. "Don't you get it? Kara protected you because you're an important person to her. It was her choice, and then you go around blaming yourself for it; isn't that an insult to her feelings for you? And if you still have the guts to feel bad about it, then think about what you would do… what you've already done!" She turned her back on him. "Think again about whether you want to come or not," she shot back, before leaving. "Geez!" she groaned to herself. "Why do such troublesome guys like him exist…"

Renji rubbed his head awkwardly and stood up, dusting himself off.

A slight wind blew in the courtyard and he stretched, trying to relieve the stress built up on his shoulders. "Honestly… such stupid things…"

* * *

Kara was bored out of her mind. Being in the hospital was nice and all, but it was nighttime. After Matsumoto had left, she had tossed and turned a bit before going to sleep for the rest of the day. And now she couldn't sleep.

She couldn't even talk to Kikou; Captain Unohana had taken her sword away to be kept for safekeeping while she recovered; later, she had asked Hanatarou and he explained it was to make sure she didn't accidently use any spirit power, so she could recover more quickly.

Rolling onto her back, Kara wondered what Renji was doing… probably paperwork or sleeping, it was two in the morning.

"_Yeah, all the work that I've got for today is already finished. In any case I've got a question for y- What the hell is up with that 'I-don't-believe-it' face?!"_

"_You… finished work… early…"_

Despite herself, Kara snickered at the memory.

"_Hey Kara, are you in love with Renji?"_

In the dark, she could feel the heat rising in her face. Kara groaned and stuffed her head under the pillow, burrowing under her sheets.

Another headache… just the last thing she needed.

* * *

"Drink, drink! It's a party!"

"Yeah! Rangiku-san, I'm going to get super drunk today!!"

"Kira, don't push it…"

"Aww, don't be such a party pooper Hisagi! Here, you drink too!"

Hitsuguya sipped tea and chewed moodily on one of the meat buns which had been brought as a snack. "What a stupid party…"

Matsumoto, already drunk, patted her superior's head. "Aww, loosen up a bit Captain!"

"No thanks…"

Kara laughed and took another sip of her own drink. She wasn't really in the mood to get drunk, but it was funny watching the others steadily become drunker and crazier. There was a slight breeze which made the newly cropped hair on the back of her neck swish a little. Matsumoto, true to her word, had trimmed her hair into a line across the back of her neck, leaving two thin bangs on either side which hung in front of her ears. It didn't look bad, per say, but Kara thought it gave her a too… cute-looking bunny thing look. She sighed. Only thing she could do about her hair was to wait for it to grow back.

At the same time, she wondered where Renji was. Surprisingly, quite a few people had shown up for her party. Hitsuguya was only there because Matsumoto had forced him to come. She had also invited Kira, Hisagi, Nanao Ise, the Sentaouro and Kiyone pair, and Ikkaku and Yumichika were causing havoc by getting drunk and picking fights with everyone.

All eyes suddenly came to rest on Matsumoto as she abruptly stood and opened the door. "If you're going to just stand out there, might as well come in and have a drink with us!" she bellowed into the night.

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to figure out who the hell she was talking about. Suddenly she disappeared, and as quickly, she reappeared, dragging someone with spiky red hair by the collar.

Kara instantly brightened. "Renji!"

Sheepishly, Renji shook Matsumoto off of him and made a face. "Hey…" he said amidst the drunken chorus of welcome. Resigning himself to his fate, he grabbed a bottle of sake and a cup and sat down next to Kara.

Kara smiled. "Hey, Renji, wher-"

"Yo, Ikkaku-san! Long time no see, how've you been?"

Kara was surprised and a little hurt by this… but maybe she just wasn't making herself heard. She tried again, twice, and he had ignored her or interrupted her by calling out loudly to someone who happened to be on the end of the table. Determined not to let it get the best of her, she waved and laughed like everyone else.

The pair didn't exchange a single word with each other for a while after that, just joining in among the general chaos of the party.

An hour later, when Ikkaku accidently broke the table, she stood up. "I'm going to go outside for a bit," she explained, grinning. "It's getting too hot, what with all you drunkards in here."

"Ahhh don't be so mean Kara!" Matsumoto yelled in mock-anger. "This is your- OMIGOD KIRA DON'T START STRIPPING HERE!"

Kara choked back a laugh and quietly slipped out of the room as everyone tried in various ways to stop Kira.

The noise of the party became muted by the cool night air as Kara strolled away from the room. She sighed gratefully. The party was fun, but it had been rather loud, so the quietness was rather soothing. She leaned against the courtyard wall and closed her eyes.

"Hey."

Kara jumped at the unexpected voice, and then grinned. "Yo, Renji! Don't scare me like that," she laughed.

"Yeah… mind if I stay here?" he asked, gesturing towards the wall. Inwardly, he cursed Matsumoto for revealing his presence and winced at how idiotic he sounded, even to himself.

Kara grinned again, so Renji took that for a yes and sat down next to her.

A rather awkward silence settled down.

"Hey Renji… did I do something to make you mad?"

Renji jumped a bit at the unexpected question. He glanced at her, but she wasn't looking at him; rather, she had her face decidedly turned away. "Why suddenly ask something like that?"

Kara hugged her knees to her chest, trying to keep her voice steady. "…no reason really. Did you notice there's lots of stars out tonight?"

Renji blinked in surprise. "I guess… there's no clouds today."

She looked up with a grin plastered onto her face. Nothing was wrong, why would anything be bothering her? "Oh, Matsumoto-san came to visit me yesterday-"

"She talked to you too?"

Kara froze. There was a mantra going through her mind, something along the lines of _holy shit what the hell did she say to him…holy shit what the hell did she…_

Renji saw the faint blush to her cheeks in the moonlight and looked away to hide his own face. "Kara…"

"Ah! We should go back to the party, the others will wonder where we went!" Kara bounced off her seat and started to stride away. "We don't want to make them wait!"

A large hand gripped her shoulder tightly. Kara tensed, but Renji didn't remove his hand. "Kara… what are you running away from? It's only me."

_And that's the whole problem, you idiot…_

"Look at me."

Kara turned, praying that it was dark enough to hide her face.

She flinched when he reached out with his other hand… and took a lock of her hair between his fingers. Kara blinked. In his eyes, there was a something she had never seen before… sadness, shame... "Your hair… I'm sorry…" he murmured.

"I'm not," Kara suddenly heard herself retaliate.

Renji stepped back, stunned, then angry. "You're not sorry that you almost got killed, that you could have died because I was…"

"I'm not sorry about this hair," she clarified. "And you _weren't_. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to fight like I did and I would probably be dead!"

"How the hell are you not understanding what I'm trying to say?!"

"You're the one who doesn't get that I really care about whether you live or die!"

"Don't you get that you were in the hospital for that long because you were doing something stupid and reckless-"

"If saving your life was stupid and reckless then don't ask me to do it again! I said before, if it wasn't for you I'd be dead!"

"I never asked you to begin with; my point is that you could have died when you did that!"

"So why were you doing it?! You saved my life too, too many times for me to count, you were in just as much danger as I was! I should be yelling all of the stuff you're yelling at me at _you_! Why can't you understand I really care ab…" She trailed off, her face turning a darker shade of red as she realized what she had been about to say. She coughed awkwardly. "And anyways, we both saved each others lives then. So you have really nothing to apologize… for…"

Kara found herself trailing off a second time. Not because she was embarrassed by what she was about to say, but she suddenly found herself in a tight embrace. She gasped. "Renji…?"

"Don't say anything for a second." He shifted so one arm was wrapped around her shoulders, the other hand cradling the back of her head. "It was pretty damn awful, waiting for you to come out of surgery," he said hoarsely. Like this in his arms, she seemed so small and fragile… but he knew, somehow he had always known that she… "If you ever make me worry like that again, I'm going to kill you myself."

Kara suddenly felt overwhelmed. She slowly leaned her forehead against his shoulder, breathing in his scent and closing her eyes. Indescribable warmth filled her heart as she did, fueled by so many things that she couldn't have possibly named them all. "Same goes for you," she whispered in spite of herself. "If you ever disappear, I will never forgive you."

Hesitantly, she wrapped her own arms around him, and then hugged him close to her as his embrace tightened in response. She was sure he could feel her heart beating some kind of stampede against the inside of her chest. She could hear his, matching the pace of her own.

Renji pulled away a little. Kara looked up at him; their eyes locked for one moment before his lips were on hers. All thought was blown away in Kara's mind as she felt herself being enveloped by his warmth, his gruff yet tender love. She was dimly surprised at how soft his lips felt against her own. Ever so gently, she shifted the slightest bit, tilting her head to deepen the kiss. Renji did not seem to have any qualms about this, he shifted the hand on her shoulders to embrace her torso and drew her a little closer to him.

When they came up for air, Renji looked at her for a second before turning a brilliant shade of red and backing away a couple steps, releasing her. He rubbed the back of his neck and lightly coughed awkwardly. "Well then… uh…"

Kara smiled. It was the first time Renji could remember ever seeing her look quite this way, completely red but smiling so happily.

And it was in that moment all the awkwardness disappeared from the air and complete understanding took its place. This time Kara was the one who start. She simply thumped her head against his shoulder, hoping it would hide the fact that tears of joy were running down her face. Renji either didn't notice or didn't say anything, simply concentrating on holding her as closely and as tightly as he could.

"Oh, look what we have here!"

Renji and Kara both froze. Matsumoto hung over the balcony, waving her sake bottle. She beamed. "So it worked, did it?"

"Oh, let me see this!" Ikkaku pushed his way out the door, quite drunk, and laughed too loudly. "Renji!! You've finally found yourself a girl!! C'mere you sly dog!"

They both let go of each other instantly. "Shut up," Renji muttered.

"Kara~~! Come here for a moment!" Matsumoto sang, gesturing her over. As a beet red Kara meekly obeyed, the other guys swarmed out and jumped on Renji like a pack of wolves. Like a pack of drunken wolves singing the corniest love ballads they knew.

Matsumoto dragged her inside into a closet. "So?" she asked, taking another sip from the sake bottle. "How was it?"

"It was… nice…" was all Kara managed to say.

Matsumoto shrieked with laughter and patted Kara on the back. "You'll become a woman soon enough, just wait and see!"

"Mastumoto-san!"

The closet door opened, and Hitsuguya stood there. "Matsumoto, what are you doing?" he asked tiredly.

She chuckled. "Nothing at all, Captain."

"Holding conversations which can be heard by everyone in the room, I suppose?"

As if Kara needed to be more embarrassed.

Hitsuguya glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed. "It's getting late… I'm going to head to bed. Kara."

"Yes, sir?"

He paused, then coughed awkwardly. "…make sure your report on your progress with Kikou is turned in by tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

"Aw Captain! Why don't you just say congratulations like you really want to?!"

"Can it, Matsumoto."

Kara laughed, and laughed as she realized how really lucky she was. Surrounded by friends who would support and help her, people who understood and sat with her when she was down… and finally realizing that she was in love with her best friend, a typical story of the guy who had been next to her for her entire life being the one…

Well, she wasn't about to complain. So let the future throw whatever it wanted to at her. What mattered was what she held here; surrounded by the warmth of people who cared about her. To always have this place to return to...

She stood up and poured herself a drink, to find a little gold bird suddenly sitting on the edge of her cup. She jumped. "Kikou…?"

**It is good to see that you have recovered, little one. Have you decided what you will protect?**

Kara smiled. "Yes."

Kikou nodded, pleased. **Very well. Prepare yourself, Hotarubi Kara! You and I have much work to do.**

It disappeared in a little gold flame. Kara put her hand on the rim of the cup where it had been, silently contemplating…

Renji stumbled through the door, having finally freed himself from the group which was now singing and dancing outside. He blushed when he saw she was the only one in the room.

Kara grinned. Her best friend, her comrade in arms, the one whom she could always trust, and her overall most important person was standing there. She sighed and tossed a cup at him, which he reflexively snatched out of the air.

"C'mere. You and I have got a few things to discuss, Renji. Setting down some rules right now is the most important thing to do."

He blinked, surprised. "… sure?"

After she poured him some sake and drank a bit herself, she glared at him. "The first thing is…"

"Is…?" Renji asked a little apprehensively when she remained silent for a minute.

Kara turned red. "… don't disappear anywhere without telling me, alright?"

He grinned and used her head as an elbow rest while he sipped his sake. "Same goes for you too," he said, over her protests of the treatment.

Kara socked him in the stomach, which successfully removed the presence of his elbow from her head. "The only other thing I really want to say for now is that if you don't survive the Winter War, I'm going to kill you."

Above his pained stomach, Renji had to process that for a moment. Then he whacked the back of her head in revenge. "Fine. But if you die, I'll force you to eat banana pudding."

Kara, in the midst of clutching her aching head, widened her eyes in shock. "That's low," she growled.

Renji only grinned, she elbowed him. An interesting relationship seemed to be taking an interesting direction as the pair began to first bicker, then bellow at one another about the righteousness of banana pudding, as the snickering eavesdroppers listened through a crack in the door.

And in his quarters, Hitsuguya was awakened by the presence of a Hell Butterfly, commanding him to come and receive orders from Commander Yamamoto about a certain matter which had appeared in the human world. This matter would be the start of the real threat and fighting which would shake both worlds for months to come…

But that's all a different story.


End file.
